(This review may contain spoilers).
I’ve read a lot of the Goosebumps books over the years, as well as seen many episodes of the television series, so I was quite eager to see this movie.
I liked the whole concept of this film, though I did think that Jack Black’s acting seemed a bit over-the-top at first. I did, however, enjoy the banter he had with Zach and it was nice to see that there was character growth between Zach and Stine.
I liked Champ’s character. I really liked the fact that he grew during the course of the movie and evolved as a character. I also really liked the opportunity to see so many of the monsters from the Goosebumps books… although it was my niece who kept pointing out which monster was which.
I would have liked to see more time spent developing the feelings between Zach and Hannah. While I did think there were some really sweet moments between them, it would have been good to learn more about them.
I did think that there were some good elements of humour in this movie… and it was good that there were quite a few surprises in this. I did enjoy seeing Zach’s relationship with his mother and his aunt… though I didn’t really like his aunt very much at first.
My niece did say that she enjoyed the movie, but there were a couple of darker moments there… and she did get a bit freaked out when the graveyard ghouls appeared. I wouldn’t recommend taking younger children to see the film (my niece is eight).
There were some good special effects in this movie and I found it quite easy to suspend my disbelief. And there were also some pretty good moments of foreshadowing. I did think the Invisible Boy was amusing… though I would have liked to see a little more variety in the monsters, since in the books, they weren’t all bad.
I did find this movie to be entertaining to watch and a good homage to Goosebumps… particularly with the real R.L. Stine putting in an appearance. It was easy to watch and I’d probably view it again at some point in the future.
Ink of Blood 