My Review of Who Framed Roger Rabbit · 3:44am Jan 28th, 2022
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 another movie review for tonight! This evening, I will be reviewing a 1988 animated/live-action hybrid movie entitled Who Framed Roger Rabbit per the request of grochek1. This was one of those movies that both amazed and blew me away while growing up. Just like with Space Jam, this is the second movie that made me develop a love for crossovers and a fondness for certain characters such as Bugs Bunny and Roger Rabbit himself. The very concept of cartoons living alongside humans in the real world was both intriguing and fascinating that overwhelmingly fed my imagination and crossover fantasy. To be honest, I both love this movie and still enjoy the very essence thereof that gives my imagination a reason to thrive!
This movie is about a detective named Edward Valiant (who has a hatred for toons due to the traumatic experience of losing a brother to a toon) who must exonerate a toon star named Roger Rabbit from a crime he didn’t commit. Framed for the murder of the owner of Acme Corporation, Roger teams up with Eddie to solve the mystery. They will discover later on that a sinister plan to destroy the toons will tie into an evil court judge.
This was the movie that introduced me to the late Bob Hoskins, and ever since then I loved his convincing performance and the character he passionately portrayed. Valiant was both sympathetic, understandable, and very well-written in terms of his personality, character growth, and his backstory which made him a three-dimensional character in the process. I liked how he had to learn to let go of the past and had to confront the very source of his trauma that gave him the opportunity to avenge his brother’s death and stop holding a grudge against toons in general. He is one of my favorite characters in this movie.
Judge Doom is one of the most formidable antagonists I’ve ever seen! He is by far one of the best villains ever written in cinema history, and Christopher Lloyd was spectacular in the role! This role in particular made him stand out from the rest of both the cast and the characters due to his charisma, hammy personality, and how utterly terrifying he was in the role. Plus, the twist of him being a toon in disguise was actually quite brilliant and clever in my opinion. This is yet another example of a twist villain done right because the writers left hints ever since he first appeared on screen and had build-up prior to his reveal just like with King Candy/Turbo. Most cartoon twist villains we see nowadays don’t even come close to this guy. His dialogue as a toon scared me as a kid yet blew me away with how cool he was. You rock, Christopher Lloyd!
As far as the other characters are concerned, Roger Rabbit was a pretty funny character. I often chuckled at some of his cheesy lines and found him to be adorable to some degree. I likewise enjoyed dozens of cameos of other cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Droopy Dog, Daffy Duck, Donald Duck, (the banter between both of those legends was hilarious when they were playing the pianos), Goofy, Woody Woodpecker, and so many others.
As for Jessica Rabbit, she was...over-exaggeratingly pointless. I mean, she was overall okay as a character, but I find her character arch to be both meaningless, unnecessary, and ridiculous. And she’s not even that appealing either. Sorry for those of you who simp for her, view her as eye candy, but in my opinion, she’s not that great of a character. What purpose does she serve for the story?
The acting is top-notch, the voice acting is great, the animation being mixed with the live-action setting was done so well, and the story was both interesting, engaging to look at, and well-written. Props to Robert Zemeckis for directing this movie and also to Alan Silvestri for an excellent job in composing the music for the movie.
This film shows us that there is more to a mystery than meets the eye. The more we dig deeper for answers and see what it truly reveals, it can change our lives for better or for worse. The chemistry between Valiant and Roger shows us how both characters who went through hard times can bond together eventually and how they can learn from each other and grow. This movie was amazing! With all this being said, I will rate this a 9/10! This movie is a classic, and I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys both Disney and even Warner Brothers cartoons.
Peace!
I'm glad they didn't do the Vengeance angle. Remember Doom's Confession?
5631813
What's that? A part of the Doom series?
5631816
No... He's the Toon that murdered Eddie's brother.
5631818
Oh, I misread that. So, what's this about you talking about a vengeance angle? Valiant did got what he wanted; avenge his brother, and saved every other innocent toon.
5631823
Yep
Thanks a lot for reviewing this title. I have so many fond memories of the movie that still lives up to my expectations to this day. In fact, I would like to paraphrase what Roger Ebert said about this movie.
"I met some other movie reviewers before going to see the film. They told me that they were returning to watch it again. For movie reviewers, that is very high praise. And the movie lives up to that praise."
In fact, what most people probably don't know is that this movie was based on a book. The book and movie have the same character names and title, but that is it. The movie impressed the author so much that when he wrote his sequel, he made his first book a dream sequence and made the movie the actual 1st in the series.
I think that with this extremely high praise and I believe the movie still lives up to that praise.
Thanks Mr. J for reviewing this cherished classic.
I was obsessed with this movie back in 2013. I was just fascinated by the blend of cartoons and live action. It seemed pretty magical and fluid. It´s hard to believe it was made in 1988! Who Framed Roger Rabbit walked so the Disney Renaissance could run. Bob Hoskins was great in this movie (may his soul rest in peace).