THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A Welcome Throwback

THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE (Blu-ray)

2024 / 91 min

From Ketchup Entertainment

Review by Princess Pepper😺

It did my heart good to see The Day the Earth Blew Up. Finally…a movie that remembers Looney Tunes are supposed to be…well, loony.

I’ve loved the classic old cartoons ever since I was a wee one, when catching them on TV was the best part of waking up on Saturday morning. Sure, a majority of those cartoons were made before I was ever born, but the characters and humor were timeless (and better than anything Hanna-Barbera was shoving down kids’ throats).

Of course, times change and nothing lasts forever, but at the risk of sounding like another crusty old boomer, subsequent attempts to keep Looney Tunes culturally relevant felt more like cynical marketing decisions than creative ones. Its classic characters were mere shadows of their former selves, reduced to being a brand name…

…which makes The Day the Earth Blew Up a wonderful throwback, of sorts. It’s not a live-action/animation hybrid. There are no Looney Tunes babies. Nobody’s solving mysteries, teaching college or ringing in the holidays. No celebrity cameos, rap battles or gratuitous product placement. No 3-D or computer animation. Sure, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck are tasked with saving the world, but at least it isn’t by shooting hoops with Michael Jordan.

Speaking of which, the plot is sort of perfunctory, but still reflects some creative effort and provides a great canvas on which to showcase a lot of clever humor. Trying to make enough money to repair the roof of their house, Porky and Daffy are forced to get jobs (which they’ve never had). This leads to an amusing montage where they’re repeatedly hired and fired, at least until, at Petunia Pig’s behest, they find work at a local bubble gum factory. That’s when Daffy stumbles upon an alien’s plot to put mind-controlling green goo into the mix, turning people into obedient zombies.

Daffy re-enacts his favorite scene from Pulp Fiction.

The story actually has a few neat twists, but what’s ultimately most important - to this old man, anyway - is Porky and Daffy actually being old school Porky and Daffy. In the latter’s case, really old school. His personality and appearance reflects the Bob Clampett-era Daffy, when he was still a mischievous prankster (though I think angry & selfish Daffy would’ve been funnier). Both characters are voiced by Eric Bauza, who’s arguably better suited for the job than anyone since Mel Blanc.

In addition to the good ol’ slapstick violence that endeared me to Looney Tunes in the first place, director Peter Browngardt and his (huge) team of writers throw in plenty of satiric elements and funny throwaway gags. This includes a hilariously suggestive scene involving Daffy, Porky and Petunia at a coffee shop that'll probably fly right over the heads of younger viewers. 

Not everything works. The strange, surreal scenes involving Farmer Jim (who raised Porky & Daffy) seem to belong to another movie. Not only that, there are layers of sentimentality that I doubt Clampett, Freleng or Jones would have ever bothered with (nor does the story need). Still, that’s a minor quip compared to what we get in return…Looney Tunes being truly loony, and the entire thing presented through colorful, old fashioned hand-drawn animation.

THE INVASION: For Best Results, Lose The Baggage

THE INVASION (Blu-ray)

2007 / 100 min

FROM ARROW VIDEO

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Body Snatcher😼

As the fourth (so far) official adaptation of Jack Finney’s original novel, The Body Snatchers, 2007’s The Invasion is generally considered the worst of them. While certainly not a great film, it isn’t truly terrible either. I think the biggest problem is that two of the previous versions rank among the greatest sci-fi/horror movies ever made. With that kind historical baggage weighing it down, of course it’s gonna look shitty.

Additionally, director Oliver Hirschbiegel and screenwriter David Kajganich do themselves no favors by applying radical changes to the basic story…specifically, depicting the invasion in the form of a space virus rather than replicating pods. So the population is actually infected, not replaced, which severely dilutes the body horror elements that made the original concept effective.

Also missing is any sense of slow-building dread. Right from the get-go, the audience is made privy to what’s happening, and barely a half-hour has passed before we know how it spreads and that millions have already been infected. The remainder consists of protagonist Carol Bennell (Nichole Kidman) and Ben Driscoll (Daiel Craig) searching for her son while on-the-run from legions of infected. There’s an increasing emphasis on action over atmosphere as the film progresses, and it comes to a pat and lazy conclusion…at least compared to the 1956 and 1978 versions. 

"Sorry...no I.D., no beer."

But you know what? Odd as it may seem, if viewed as more of a ripoff than a remake, The Invasion isn’t without merit. As horror goes, a contagion (even from space) isn’t as ominous as pods spawning emotionless replicants, but it’s still kind of interesting on its own terms, especially as the implications - however briefly - grow more apocalyptic. The film also features several suspenseful sequences and exciting chase scenes…

…all of which has me believing The Invasion is probably best appreciated by viewers who’ve never seen any previous version of the story. While no lost classic worthy of critical reassessment, it remains a slick and fairly engaging sci-fi action film.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

VISUAL ESSAYS - Body Snatchers and Beyond features film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, who discusses all four film adaptations of the novel; The Bug That’s Going Around features josh Nelson’s take on the so-called prophetic pre-pandemic aspects of the film, even going as far as drawing comparisons to Outbreak and Contagion.

FEATURETTES - We’ve Been Snatched Before is about how viral diseases are dealt with; Behind the Scenes consists of three promotional featurettes

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By podcasters Andrea Subisati and Alexandra West.

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