Tuesday, May 12, 2009

17 Again: Another Evidence That Lightsabers Make Movies Better


It's outlandish.  It's ridiculous.  It's implausible.  It's...a lot more fun than I thought it would be.  The formula for 17 Again is not a new one.  It's been done before as Big, 13 Going on 30, and in other variations like Hot Chick (haven't actually seen this one).  But 17 Again, is still fun and it has a lightsaber fight and that makes it all worth it.

I was worried that this movie was going to be terrible at the start when Zac Efron (as Matthew Perry in 1989) got up before his big basketball game and started dancing with the cheerleaders.  "Oh no!  High School Musical 4," I thought, but the film got better as it went on.  Efron and Perry play Mike O'dell.  In the "future" Mike is on the verge of a divorce from his high school sweetheart, his kids hardly know him and he lives with his best friend the uber-nerd, multi-millionaire Ned Gold.  By some magic Mike gets the chance to be 17...again.  He comes back as his fit, good looking high school self to do it all over... again.  At first all Mike wants to do is play basketball and be popular... again, but he soon realizes his son is picked on and his daughter is dating the school jock/jerk/idiot.  So he decides to fix everything and woo his wife...again.

The story sticks to formula, but with funny moments along the way.  The best part of the movie is Ned, Mike's best friend.  Ned is a super nerd and he's rich.  He lives in a sweet house with a sweet car and all the nerd memoribilia you could hope for.  Ned ends up falling for Mike's principal, Jane Masterson (played by Jan from The Office).  Their "courtship" is hilarious.  I laughed lots.

Overall an enjoyable movie, but nothing groundbreaking or spectacular.  A fun movie to watch with your significant other at the dollar theater or at home on DVD.

Rating: 11 Hubcaps

2 comments:

Shelly said...

Good to know. Ya know, Jack, these reviews are really good. They really make me want to (or not) see the movie. Thanks.

Liz Wilcken said...

I was wondering how this one was. Thanks for letting me know :) Are you going to see the Star Trek one?