The movie Kazaam, which also happens to be the name of Shaq's character, is about a young boy named Max who unknowingly releases Kazaam the genie from his lamp, or in this case a boom box. Kazaam must now grant Max three wishes. There are several issues that arise right off the bat with this movie. At the beginning of the film, we are led to believe that Kazaam is trapped in a lamp. That is all well and good, however when Max accidentally releases him, he has somehow gone from being trapped in a lamp to being trapped in boom box, with no given explanation as to why this has happened. Shortly after this scene, there is a sequence where Kazaam gets his powers back (because somehow he lost his powers, although we are never told why that has happened either). Now, because Kazaam is a genie, he can magically appear anywhere. Okay, fine. I can deal with that. However, in the scene where Kazaam gets his powers back, he is chasing Max around an abandoned warehouse on a bicycle. Why doesn't he just keep reappearing places in order to block Max's exit? Also, why does he get his powers back by riding a bicycle at breakneck speed? Couldn't he have gotten his powers back another way? Also, why is Kazaam a rapping genie? Why? Is that his superpower or something? If the filmmakers were going for an original take on a genie, that is fine. Just give me some explanation as to why he raps. Another thing that bothers me about this movie is that whenever Max calls Kazaam (which is very similar to the way Winona Ryder calls Beetlejuice...saying his name a certain number of times and he appears), something very strange happens. The first time Max calls Kazaam, Kazaam is on a date and Max appears in a glass of water and jumps out of the glass onto the table. Why? Is Max a genie now also? The second time Max calls Kazaam, Kazaam magically appears. Now, why doesn't this happen the first time? I thought genies were summoned by their master, not the other way around. There is also a scene where Kazaam stars fading away for some mysterious reason, and then proceeds to Kung-Fu the crap out of the bad guys. He is a genie, right? Can't he just make them magically disappear? One final note here: Kazaam makes it very clear that he cannot grant ethereal wishes. For example, he cannot make people fall in love. He can only grant physical wishes, like wishing for a giant mountain of candy, which actually does happen in the movie. However, Max's final wish is that his father be given a second chance at life. I could be wrong here, but I do not think there is anything physical about making a wish from the heart. Also, Kazaam smiles....A LOT. It is not amusing, either. It is very, very creepy.
For all the shortcomings this movie has, Kazaam is a film that actually has some redeeming qualities. Max is a child of divorce, and this has clearly had an effect on him. He is a smart-ass kid, who gets into trouble at school and has hideouts that he goes to when he just wants to be alone. As a child of divorce myself, I can identify with how Max feels. There are also a couple of very meaningful conversations between Max and Kazaam about how much Max misses his father, and what life as a genie is really like for Kazaam.
Shaquille O'Neal plays the genie Kazaam. I have stated in a previous blog about why I personally think athletes do not make good actors. If Shaq wanted to try his hand at movies like Michael Jordan did, forget about it. He could not beat Jordan on the court, and he cannot beat him off the court either. Stick with what you are good at, Shaq. Keep slam-dunking the ball, and people will continue to love you.
Francis Capra plays Max Connor, and he is actually the best part of the whole movie. He is a wonderful child actor, who just oozes the kind of sassy, smart-mouthed punk that we all knew in school. He is great in the film, and manages to make the movie actually somewhat bearable to watch.
Paul M. Glaser directed this film, and it is very clear right from the beginning that he was going for a movie that is fun for a family to watch. Children are the main target audience here, and there is nothing wrong with that. If this movie were geared for adults, Glaser would have actually cared about the countless plot holes that I have mentioned.
As I mentioned before, this movie is fun for children to watch with their parents. Kids will enjoy it, and adults will analyze it. Watch it for good, family entertainment. That is all I can say.
No comments:
Post a Comment