![A small adventure of "Micro Kids" [Mizumaru Kawahara's CINEMONOLOGUE Vol.42]](https://cinemore.jp/images/c346fae00a13e767a7ba3f00a799e6eaa4d745f893b9053eb5f8b4addd3c8f9d.jpg)
A sequel that grows and shrinks again
The original title of the second film, known as `` Giant Baby '' in Japanese, is ``Honey, I Blew Up the Kid.'' As the title suggests, it will be bigger this time, and three years after the previous work, the newly born youngest son, Adam, is accidentally exposed to the beam of the enlargement device, which was developed from the previous work's reduction device, and becomes gigantic. Put it away. By the way, Adam is already 2 years old and can speak some words (of course, he still can't communicate well, which is why the commotion is getting bigger), so even if he doesn't become huge, he's a little big enough to be called a "baby". .
Adam gradually grows larger each time he is exposed to electromagnetic waves, but in the first half he is still the size of a small giant, and there are some interesting scenes in which he lines up with other family members in a room. The scenes where the actors face backwards and their faces cannot be seen are played by tall suit actors with hair and costumes, or by using puppets, and the combination of reality and compositing is used to create a natural-looking image. The scene where Moranis hugs and lifts his father is also well done, even though it's just someone disguised as Adam using a wig and costume holding Moranis up.
The highlight is definitely the climax, where Adam, now the size of a building, walks down the neon streets of Las Vegas with a grin on his face. As mentioned in the movie, the scene is reminiscent of a monster movie, and people run away from the child with her angelic, twirling blonde hair and innocent smile. His yellow sweatshirt and red overalls stand out in the neon lights of the casino. The pacing is good as there is a chase by a rival scientist who is targeting Adam as a sample who has successfully grown into a giant, but the scene where Adam finally starts crying after being attacked is a bit off-putting, especially since he had been innocently laughing and having fun up until that point. I can't help but feel touched. Now that I think about it, Adam may have been the one who felt the scariest... Just then, his mother Diane, played by Marcia Strassman, appears, transformed into a giant by her husband's device. He chases away the helicopter carrying the villain and hugs his giant son to reassure him. It may be a bold move, but it cannot be made fun of. A loving embrace, not a makeshift toy, can provide a small child with comfort. No matter how old Adam gets, he's always cute, but since my child is about to turn two, I feel even more empathetic towards him.
The third film is `` Micro Kids 3 '', originally titled ``Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves.'' ``Honey, we've shrunk ourselves.'' This time, the adults are finally shrunk by mistake. So, contrary to the Japanese title, it's not a story about microscopic kids at all, but the grown-up Mr. and Mrs. Salinski and Wayne's younger brother and his wife go on an adventure inside the house, with no adults present (or so it seems). The structure is such that a world only for children is unfolded. Even as adults struggle with the ``huge world,'' they see a side of children they didn't know about and how they're growing more than they expected, and they reconsider their attitude toward them. In the Szalinsky family, Nick has also left the house following Emmy, and this time Adam, who has grown from the previous work, will be the main child.
This is a video-through work, and since the previous work was a story about becoming gigantic, I can't help but feel that the scale has been scaled down slightly in terms of content and special effects, but as mentioned above, the core I think the story is quite stable. The film was originally scheduled to be released in theaters in 1996, but apparently the live-action version was released through video instead of the standard and successful video version of Disney's animated films at the time. The scene where the adults enter the soap bubbles and descend safely downstairs looks a little fake when you remember the previous work's composite of giant children and adults, a scene unique to the early days of CG. Although it has an experimental feel to it, the scene where the adults slide down the Hot Wheels track in Adam's room is vibrant and worth watching. By the way, all four of the group get into the Shark Cruiser, which is a shark-shaped miniature car, but the actual Shark Cruiser does not have family-style seats that can accommodate four people like in the movie. Since it is none other than Wayne himself who is being shrunk, he can easily come up with a way to tell the children what happened and return to their original size, but instead the focus of the drama is on Wayne dealing with the problem while the parents are away. This is aimed at children who do.
The ``Micro Kids'' series creates magic through size differences that make you feel a little confused, as they get smaller, bigger, and then smaller again. Whether it's a sequel or a reboot, if we can see that world in today's footage, I'm really looking forward to it. I'm especially happy to see the return of Rick Moranis, who consistently played Wayne Salinsky. Once again, he is a charming character who is both a typical inventor who is both comical and intelligent, and who creates amazing things even though he is crazy, as well as a strong father who scours the lawn to save his children. I wonder if it will be done?
Illustrations and text: Mizumaru Kawahara
Born in 1991. Illustrator. In addition to illustrations and covers for magazines and books, there are also illustration columns for movies and books. New movie reviews are currently being serialized in "SPUR" (Shueisha).
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