Surprise Review: Harry and the Hendersons · 8:45pm March 6th
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings, everyone! This is Mr. J back with a surprise review for the month. This afternoon, I will be reviewing "Harry and the Hendersons" from 1987. Just like "Little Giants", I remember first watching this movie back in the same middle school where our teacher would have us watch a movie every Friday. Unfortunately, we never had enough time to watch the ending of this film which honestly disappointed me because I remember loving this movie back then.
So yeah, that was the first time ever in my life to watch a movie without seeing the ending. And guess what? Last week, I decided to watch this for the first time in years on Tubi so that I can finally see for myself how the movie ended. To my utter joy, it was a blast!
This movie is about a family of four encountering a gentle giant...the bigfoot. Harry soon develops a bonding relationship with the family, but it all becomes risky as he is hunted by a cunning poacher. Will people see him as a ravenous monster or a kind person?
I must say that the comedy is pretty good as it has a lot of hilarious moments with Harry. Every time he tries to laugh, shout, or make a facial expression, it always cracks me up because of the way he's humanized. And that's a good thing! It makes him more human and a much more enjoyable character. The late Kevin Peter Hall did a fantastic job giving him so much personality and life in his body language and emotions despite not talking at all.
Also, Jacques Lafleur was another good character in this movie. Not only was he an entertaining antagonist but also comedy relief at the same time, in my opinion. His serious demeanor was just unintentionally funny to me, and the way he tried to hunt down Harry but failed every time made him come across as cartoony or goofy. I love that about him, and it's all thanks to David Suchet's great acting.
John Lithgow, Joshua Rudoy, Margaret Langrick, William Dear, and the late Melinda Dillon were all likewise great actors/actresses in this film. They made their respective characters act realistic yet fun to watch.
The story is pretty basic yet still simple enough to be thoroughly engaging to watch. Granted, it has a few predictable moments since it's the same story we've all heard or seen numerous times, but it doesn't take away my enjoyment of this movie.
If there's one particular part I did not like at all, it would be the chase scene on the highway where our heroes need to take Harry somewhere safe from Jacques Lafleur; a random police car drives by with sirens blaring which makes all the vehicles move aside for the cop car.
Harry then had to yell like a police siren to make everyone think it's another cop car passing by. Umm, is nobody seeing a hairy monster popping his head out the window?? Do drivers not have eyes? There's no way people are that dumb and blind to not see this thing in that red vehicle.
I get it, it's a family/comedy movie, but that scene was just stupid. Regardless of that, I still find this film to be just as awesome as before.
Lastly, the ending was really well-done. Although it felt a little rushed and badly paced, I still love how emotional they made the final moments between Harry and the Hendersons; plus, I was actually amazed there were other members of his species who joined him at the end. Basically, he left the first family he ever had to...unexpectedly join another family--his own. It's pretty much what I call a bittersweet/happy ending.
With that said, I love this movie. I give it a mighty 10/10! I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys family/comedy films...or if you just like watching 1980s stuff.
Peace!
