DVD Reviews

Shorts – Blu-ray Review

By Frankie Dees Dec 17, 2009, 16:42 GMT

$While grownups at Black Box Industries work to improve the handheld gizmo that\'s this year\'s high-tech must-have, neighborhood kid Toby$

While grownups at Black Box Industries work to improve the handheld gizmo that\'s this year\'s high-tech must-have, neighborhood kid Toby "Toe" Thompson has something even better: he\'s found the Wishing Rock.

I’ve never been much of a fan of Rodriguez’s kid-centric output like the ‘Spykids’ trilogy and the particularly grating ‘The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl’ and his latest kid pic, ‘Shorts’ (a frenetic and pointless exercise in what? Busyness?) continues the trend.

I have nothing against family-friendly films in general, if done well, but one would think that Robert Rodriguez (who has directed some fantastic adult pics like ‘El Mariachi’, ‘Sin City’ and the one-half of ‘Grindhouse’) would have a bit more to offer kids with that sharp filmmaking style of his.

While ‘Spykids’ was more tolerable in the creative department, ‘Shorts’ just reeks of an after-school Nickelodeon movie…if there is such a thing.

Although I may also be annoyed that Rodriguez has no problem directing ‘Shorts’ but the reboot of the iconic ‘Predator’ franchise that he would be perfect for? Nah, he’ll just produce. Don’t get me wrong, ‘Shorts’ isn’t horrible but it’s so head-scratchingly slight that you have to wonder why he would even bother.

For his adult fans, though, all may be forgiven for his forthcoming ‘Grindhouse’ trailer spin-off ‘Machete’ which he’s turning into a feature film as I write.

So ‘Shorts’, a series of little vignettes, hence the name, surrounds the misadventures of a colored rock who falls from the sky in the small town of Black Hills, a burg completely dominated by a corporation run by Mr. Black (James Spader) whose sole existence is an all-in-one gadget comprised of little black blocks that can instantly turn from a cell phone into a toaster.

Our main star is Toby ‘Toe’ Thompson (Jimmy Bennett) who is ignored at home by his workaholic parents (Leslie Mann and Jon Cryer) and getting bullied at school by Mr. Black’s own offspring including ‘Addams Family’ Wednesday look-alike Helvetica Black (Jole Vanier), complete with her own theme song.

Toe is the first to come into possession of this magical colored rock which he quickly learns has the ability to grant wishes. Getting bullied at school? No problem, just wish for some friends who come in the form of tiny little loyal spaceships. And so the magic rock continues to find itself in the hands of other kids whom come up with their own, generally special f/x-heavy wishes, such as a castle, crocodiles, a booger monster, turning into a giant wasp, etc.

The structure reminds me of, say, Pulp Fiction Jr. where all the ‘shorts’ intertwine at various points with most converging at the end for the slam-bang finale. There’s, of course, a heavy-handed lesson or two about the destruction of the family due to too much technology, corporate greed and even a anti-nose-picking stance which is all done competent enough so as your average kiddie time-waster, you could probably due worse but dare I say that Rodriquez could probably (and did) do this in his sleep?

He’s got the credibility, and heck, even his own production studio; why not put more effort into these types of films? He was a teen in the eighties and should know that the exact same demographic he’s aiming for with ‘Shorts’ is the same demo that ‘The Goonies’ and ‘Explorers’ was made for roughly 25 years ago.

I imagine these kid pics of his are just a nice excuse to make some money while involving the whole family and while there’s something admirable about that on its own terms, it’s still a bit lazy when realizing what Rodriguez is capable of…

The extremely colorful film shines on Blu-ray with a 1.85 VC-1 1080p image that sparkles throughout. Clean and full of detail, even the dodgy CGI comes across as impressive. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix is as hyperactive as the film and also provides ample bang for your buck. Yep, as far as the tech specs are concerned, ‘Shorts’ is a clear winner.

The disappointing theatrical run of ‘Shorts’ doesn’t allow much in the extras department. We get a ten-minute making-of, a ten minute ‘Film School’ where Rodriquez talks about of some of his techniques, a ten-minute ‘Cooking School’ where Rodriquez and his 4-year old daughter make Chocolate Chip Volcano Cookies and a quick five minute ‘Show & Tell’ which gives the young cast their time to shine.

‘Shorts’ is disappointing when considering the talent and potential but I’ll have to begrudgingly admit that most 10-year olds won’t care too much about wasted potential (though my 4-year old daughter was only mildly interested) when there’s a booger monster on the screen. It’ll work as a babysitter but plan on burying yourself back into the laptop after about 5 minutes.