Film Review- Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Earlier this week, Sony Pictures announced that they are in the process of making a Sonic the Hedgehog feature film, due to be released in 2018. Now, while this revelation did fill me with a strange sense of nostalgic delight, having watched the Fox Kids TV show "Sonic X" religiously in my formative primary school years, one particular part of the announcement made me let out a large audible groan, prompting passers-by to give me concerned and fearful looks. Sony Pictures have decided in their infinite wisdom to make Sega's little blue mascot's first foray into the world of cinema a live action/animation hybrid. Now, I could be proven wrong but, in my opinion, combining live action with animation is extremely hard to pull-off and is rarely ever done well, with the annals of film history being littered with examples of this sub-genre at its very worse (Watch any late 90's/ early 2000's Looney Toons movie and you will know exactly what I mean). However, I refuse to let a speedy blue mammal wearing sports trainers break my New Year's resolution of being more positive and, in that spirit, I have decided to review the only film that managed to make this concept work and that is the 1988 Robert Zemeckis favourite "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"

Set in Hollywood in the year 1947, the film depicts a world where cartoon characters are real and interact directly with real people. After famous "toon" Roger Rabbit is accused of murdering a top studio executive, prompting alcoholic private investigator Eddie Valiant to try and help clear his name. Sounds awful serious for a kids movie right? Well, it is, but that's one of the reasons Roger Rabbit works. Robert Zemeckis is a master of making films that can appeal to the whole family, with the Back to the Future franchise being the most obvious example, and with Roger Rabbit he manages to perfectly fuse a really good story with humour that will appeal to children and adults alike. Younger viewers will laugh out loud at the goofy antics of the title character Roger as he guffaws and clumsily stumbles his way through the plot, while older audiences may find the scene where Roger finds out his wife, Jessica, is playing "patty cake" behind his back with another man more to their comedic taste. It is a family movie that transcends demographics, something that is sorely missing from today's market. 

Bob Hoskins is the focal point of the movie as private detective Eddie Valiant. Hoskins certainty has fun with the part. Playing the straight man opposite a wacky cartoon rabbit couldn't have been an easy feet, but Hoskins is totally convincing throughout. His physical comedy is impeccable, and it is a performance thoroughly deserving of the Golden Globe nomination he received. Joanna Cassidy is delightfully sombre as Valiant's love interest Dolores while Christopher Lloyd is quite terrifying as deranged toon/crooked policeman/evil business tycoon Judge Doom. However a special mention has to be given to vast array of talented voice actors involved in this film, most of all Kathleen Turner, who's sexy and slightly husky tone brought to life what would become one of the most iconic cartoon characters of a generation. Simply put, the acting is strong across the board. 

However, Roger Rabbit is a film who's strength can't be determined by the sum of its individual parts, but by the moments it creates on screen. Who can forget our introduction to Jessica Rabbit as she performs "Why Don't You Do Right?" in front of a large and excitable (and perhaps rather seedy) audience, inspiring Halloween costumes for decades to come. The opening scene is also a standout, giving audiences a throwback to the golden-age of animation in a sequence that could have come right out of a 1950s cartoon. Yet, the true delight of this film is getting to see the classic cartoon characters of a by-gone era share the screen and interact with one another. Who Framed Roger Rabbit features Micky Mouse and Bugs Bunny sky-diving together, Donald and Daffy Duck trying to get the better of each other whilst playing pianos and Tinker Bell and the "That's All Folks" pig (who's name escapes me) combining their signature sign-offs in a moment of sheer magic. God knows how Robert Zemeckis managed to get Warner Brothers to hand over the rights to their iconic characters (I think the answer must include a dollar sign and several zeros) but the film is all the better for it as their presence on screen helps to create moments of cinematic brilliance that will live on forever.

In saying this, I do have a few issues with the film. The inconsistencies in tone can be rather jarring, and some plot points are set up really well but are given very little in the way of satisfactory resolution. Examples of this include Valiant's sudden, "don't blink or you'll miss it" victory over his alcohol addiction, Judge Doom's characterisation which seemed to include every stereotypical villain trope known to man and the reveal of who killed Valiant's brother, which added nothing to the film as a whole. The ending wasn't to my taste either and felt "too Disney" for what was otherwise a good effort at making a film that could have fun while taking itself seriously. Some of the humour has unfortunately become a bit dated too, not generating the laughs I'm sure they would have gotten at the time of the film's initial release. These minor  problems aside, Roger Rabbit is a really great movie. It is a smart, well-acted and funny piece of pioneering filmmaking which, for the most part, has held up very well. Overall, it should be remembered as one of the best family films of the past 50 years and a major landmark in the progression of post-production work in modern cinema. 

Score: 8.0/10