# Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, The (2000)

### reviewed by
Scott Renshaw

THE FLINTSTONES IN VIVA ROCK VEGAS (Universal) Starring: Mark Addy, Kristen Johnston, Stephen Baldwin, Jane Krakowski, Alan Cumming, Thomas Gibson, Joan Collins. Screenplay: Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont and Jim Cash & Jack Epps Jr. Producer: Bruce Cohen. Director: Brian Levant. MPAA Rating: PG (mild profanity, adult humor) Running Time: 90 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.

Brian Levant, director of THE FLINTSTONES IN VIVA ROCK VEGAS (as well as the 1994 FLINTSTONES feature), says and does everything you'd expect of a sequel to a film based on a television series. He professes his affection for the original series, and his desire to remain true to its spirit. He tosses in touchstones both from the series (the alien Great Gazoo; Harvey Korman, original Gazoo voice, in the role of Wilma's father) and from the first film (Rosie O'Donnell as the voice of an octopus masseuse). In short, it is Levant's goal to create a thoroughly synthesized film experience. If anything in VIVA ROCK VEGAS disrupts the comfort of the familiar, he has failed.

That being the case, chalk up VIVA ROCK VEGAS as a smashing success of the most yawn-inducing sort. The "prequel" story begins with the Great Gazoo (Alan Cumming) assigned by his race to study the mating habits of prehistoric earthlings. He lands in Bedrock, where Fred Flintstone (Mark Addy) and Barney Rubble (Stephen Baldwin) are bachelor pals fresh out of the Bronto Crane Academy. On a trip to the neighborhood Bronto King, they meet waitresses Wilma Slaghoople (Kristen Johnston) and Betty O'Shale (Jane Krakowski), and romance is soon in the air. Little do any of them know that Wilma is actually a runaway heiress whose would-be fiance Chip Rockefeller (Thomas Gibson) is sort of a poor loser. Chip invites the happy couples to his casino in Rock Vegas, where his dastardly plans will be set in motion.

It's somehow more depressing when a film like VIVA ROCK VEGAS shows flashes of genuinely inspired writing, letting you know that those involved could have done much better if it had mattered at all to them. There's a great gag about circus side-show freaks including "a 40-year-old man," a wonderful ham-fisted compliment with Fred comparing Wilma's eyes to "two big eyes" and an addled rock star's vague concern over whether his female companion is a minor. It's also hard not to get a few giggles out of Cumming's double-duty as the effete Gazoo and the preening Mick Jagged. In general, though, the film is content to coast on its special effects, its insider humor (Ann-Margret, co-star of the Elvis Presley film VIVA LAS VEGAS, singing the title song) and its bronto-crane-load of "rock" puns. Handling such a recognizable commodity, Levant sees no need to rock -- no pun intended -- this particular boat.

Of course, he has no choice but to deal with a complete overhaul of the original film's cast. John Goodman gives way to Addy, who's personable enough and bypasses Alan Reed's Fred entirely to go right to the source with a decent imitation of Jackie Gleason. The muscular Baldwin isn't nearly as ideal a Barney as Rick Moranis, nor does Johnston match Elizabeth Perkins' endearingly flat readings of Wilma's signature "Frad;" in neither case does the film waste any time explaining how each one shrinks several inches by the time the next film rolls around. Only Krakowski seems more physically right for her part -- God love Rosie O'Donnell, but she's no wasp-waist -- and her titter is on target. There's not much one can say to criticize performances like these -- "cartoonish" would be a compliment, after all -- but there's not much that distinguishes them, either. The actors, like most everything else in the film, seem set up not to get in the way of the general feeling of good will.

Some might argue that a disposable entertainment like VIVA ROCK VEGAS is nothing more than brightly-colored, slapstick-heavy eye candy for the kids, and should be treated as such. It might be easier to buy that reasoning if it didn't take exactly four minutes before the first flatulence joke, and 15 minutes for the first joke about Fred and Barney sheepishly denying the appearance of a homosexual relationship. I don't recall those as the kind of gags typical of the series for which Brian Levant expresses so much fond remembrance. THE FLINTSTONES IN VIVA ROCK VEGAS, isolated bursts of genuine humor aside, is a deeply pandering film. It panders to stereotypes; it panders to the most inane adult nostalgia; it panders to the most simplistic kiddie humor. That's often the kind of film you get when your primary goal is the comfort of the familiar ... in this case, humor that was already tired when dinosaurs walked the earth.

         On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 blank slates:  4.

                       Visit Scott Renshaw's Screening Room
                        http://www.inconnect.com/~renshaw/
                                       ***
                 Subscribe to receive new reviews directly by email!
     See the Screening Room for details, or reply to this message with subject
                                   "Subscribe".

The review above was posted to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due to ASCII to HTML conversion.

Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews