Leslie Jones

Z is for Zookeeper (2011)

Kind-hearted zookeeper Griffin (Kevin James) is a much loved by his co-workers and the animals in his care. However, Griffin is unlucky in love so when he reconnects with ex-girlfriend Stephanie (Leslie Bibb), the animals in the zoo decide to break their code of silence in order to help him win her back.

Zookeeper is not good, and it also struggles to figure out what it is. The scenario of animals taking and helping out a zookeeper makes it targeted towards younger audiences. However, the humour is full of inuendo that children won’t understand or find it funny, and the adults who might find it funny, are unlikely to be watching this film in the first place.

The special effects for the animals aren’t terrible, however the choice of voice actors might well be. I’m not saying you expect a certain voice to come from a bear or a giraffe, but a lot of the voice cast didn’t suit the animal or give a good performance. So many of the animals sounded grumpy or were mean. They weren’t exactly friendly and if they’d been human with those attitudes, I doubt Griffin or anyone else would’ve been friends with them.

Kevin James gives a perfectly bland performance as nice guy Griffin. He has no chemistry with Bibb, or Rosario Dawson who plays a vet at the zoo, so one has to wonder how he is cast as a romantic comedy type lead. He is good at falling over and crashing into things though. So, there’s that.

I doubt anyone would consider this a spoiler, or care if it was, but I have to mention what happens during the end credits. All of the animals sing Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” and it’s one of the weirdest things I’ve seen and one of the worst things I’ve heard. Especially when Sylvester Stallone tries to harmonise with Cher. Yep, that is something that happens. No offence to Cher, she’s amazing, Stallone on the other hand, is not.

Zookeeper is unfunny, predictable, and somewhat unsuitable for the kids it’s aimed for. Just don’t waste your time. 1/5.

REVIEW: Ghostbusters (2016)

ghostbusters posterWhen ghosts start appearing in Manhattan, physicist Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig), paranormal engineer Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy), engineer Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) and subway worker and municipal historian Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) unite to try and stop them.

I’m sure there are many comparisons to be made with the original 1984 Ghostbusters but as I have only ever seen that film once about a year ago and I didn’t like it that much and it wasn’t particularly memorable – you won’t find any original vs reboot comparisons here.

Ghostbusters is a lot of fun. It’s full of jokes and zingy one-liners, I laughed out loud multiple times and when I wasn’t laughing I had a big grin on my face because I was enjoying it so much. There’s some jump scares and the first ghost encounter would have probably scared me a lot if I saw it as a kid. Then there’s the action sequences, they are vibrant and a lot of fun, each Ghostbuster gets her own hero-moment and it’s just great to see.

The cast really is wonderful. All four women are smart and capable in different ways and you really feel like they all like each other and become good friends over the course of the film. Wiig and McCarthy continue to have great chemistry and Leslie Jones brings a lot to a character that could be pretty one-dimensional. McKinnon’s Holtzmann is a stand-out as she’s so weird and funny but she owns that and steals just about every scene she’s in. Then there’s Chris Hemsworth as the receptionist Kevin, he’s so dumb and a lot of the laughs are down to him and his interactions with the Ghostbusters.

Ghostbusters is so much fun! It’s got a lot of laugh out loud moments but at its core are these four awesome women who are smart and capable and I want to see more films about kickass, awesome women. Yes, Ghostbusters might be a little slow to find its feet and there could be more battles with ghosts sprinkled throughout the film (I love a good montage) but really it’s a great action-comedy movie that is fun for all ages and genders. 4/5.