Adventures in Babysitting

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Feb 4, 2019 Best Movie of the Year I was born from the July 27, 1987 They Made the Movie Adventures in Babysitting A Movie Awsome

Han L Jul 25, 2018 Looks like Disney needed to ruin one more thing for everyone, didn't they? It wasn't enough for them to ruin fairy tales by deciding to buy the rights to characters that were part of the public domain. And it's not just that, they also ruined these stories by stripping them of all their juicy and deliciously dark themes to make something more family-friendly and, therefore, also more commercially successful. It's not enough to have bought LucasArts, therefore giving them the rights to the vast Star Wars universe. Though, in this case, George Lucas himself had ruined the name, so it might as well have gone to Disney. It's also not enough for Disney to own all of Marvel's properties as well and, eventually, if the deal goes through, to own 20th Century Fox and THEIR Marvel properties as well (20th Century Fox is the only one of the major film studios supporting different forms of telling stories within the superhero genre. They'll also own, with this same deal, more 60% of Hulu and, of course, they also own Pixar. Pretty soon, they'll buy the moon and make a theme park out of it, for those Futurama fans out there. No, they need all of this and, on top of that, they need Adventures in Babysitting too??? No. Enough. This is where I draw the line. I will not allow Disney to besmirch Adventure in Babysitting's good name by putting out an inferior TV remake. What's that? The remake has been out for two years now and it's, apparently, not that bad of a movie considering it's a Disney TV original movie? Seriously, though, it should be obvious that that's all a joke. I doubt that acquiring the remake rights for this is a major part of Disney's quest to control everything under the sun. Having said that, I'm glad that I chose this movie, because I was on a run of 6 movies that, honestly, weren't very good. I don't know if I considered this a sure thing to break that streak, but I wanted to watching something a little lighter and, quite frankly, this was the best option that I could come up with with the limited time I had to pick prior to dinner. And I'm glad I did choose this. Though, it's weird that, even with the fact that this movie is relatively tame and innocent, that Disney had to, I'm certain, tone a lot of the movie down for their TV remake. This one features gang fights, Daryl is kind of a sex fiend, BLOOD (but really very little), literal ass kicking, UNDERAGE DRINKING (will SOMEBODY think of the children?!?!?!), Brad has a knife dropped on his toe, a Playboy issue is a major plot point, car thievery, being hunted down by criminals for their possession of a Playboy issue with a lot of notes related to their illegal chop shop business, Sara climbs down the side of a building (stupidly enough), among many other things. And, yet, even with all that, this still ends up being a relatively tame little movie. Perhaps tame isn't really the correct word, but it's a movie that's still very light and breezy to watch. One of the big issues that I have with films like this, where it's like a series of unfortunate events taking place in a really short time span, is that very thing. All of what happens in this movie, as a result of Chris' best friend (Brenda) running away from home to go downtown, feels like way too much too happen in such a relatively short time span. And I get the whole thing is to prove that, while Brad and Sara's parents thought they were having a relaxing night home, they were, in fact, doing quite the opposite. Going all over the city and being placed in all sorts of different and, potentially, dangerous situations. Though, of course, to be fair, that is part of this movie's charm. Just the sheer amount of stuff these kids are put through. And, to the movie's credit, while it's not perfect, it's an entertaining movie to watch from beginning to end. I think, while they're still thematically different movies, this could definitely be compared to Ferris Bueller's Day Off in how the narrative is structured. Bunch of kids doing a bunch of shit they're not supposed to be doing while their parents think they're home, safe and sound. Even the climax of Chris trying to beat Brad and Sara's parents home, whom they see on the road on the way there, is similar to Ferris Bueller's iconic climax. Obviously, in this movie, it's not as memorable as Bueller's ending, which is still parodied to this day. There might be something to this, since this movie was released the year AFTER Bueller came out. And Bueller was one of the most commercially successful movies of 1986. So, again, I'm certain that changes were made so it could be more similar to that in order to attract some of the same crowd. But, again, even with that, the movie is entertaining on its own merits. It's not a Bueller rip-off by any stretch of the imagination and that's not what I'm trying to say. Like I said, however, it's not perfect and there's some scenes that don't really work. The one that comes to mind, immediately, is when the kids put on an impromptu performance at this blues club, since they're, somehow, not allowed to leave the stage without singing the blues. Is that law? What if I just leave? Do I get murdered? Anyway, the kids put on an amazing performance, as if they were The Commitments or something. The out-blues the blues artists themselves and bridge the racial gap between white and black people. It's not a bad scene, but it's just kind of preposterous in execution, just the idea of these kids somehow being better at the blues despite, theoretically, never having even performed before. Then again, to be fair, a lot of the movie is preposterous and it still works. Maybe I'm just nitpicking, who knows? It's not like the characters are incredibly complex, but the leads are all well-written with their own identifiable personalities. I did like how Brad's crush towards Chris didn't really go anywhere, as they normally would in these types of movies. It gives it a bit of a bittersweet ending in that Brad is on the outside looking in as it relates to Chris' love life. It's small, but it's something and I think it's better than wrapping everything up in a neat little bow, which this movie did anyway with the exception of the aforementioned issue. Solid performances, solid script and, overall, just a fun tone. I can't really complain much about this movie. Wouldn't say it's anything more than just a good movie, but I definitely enjoyed my time with this and this was precisely what the doctor ordered after the past week of below average-to-average movies. Would definitely recommend it if you're wanting something lighter and more casual. See more

Luke W May 23, 2018 I'm sorry that this movie is not very well known, because this movie is really very good. He had a good soundtrack, a good story, good actors and good characters. It was super funny, with hilarious scenes and good special effects that are worth every scene worth (especially the post-credits scene). Highly recommend. See more

Hermione R Dec 28, 2017 This movie was kind of cute and I guess I can see why people look back on it with nostalgic feelings. It does have some charm to it and Elisabeth Shue is fun enough to watch. It is an oldie worth remembering every once in a while. See more

Theodore G Nov 19, 2017 A funny and unpretentious comedy. If I had seen it in the 80s I would have developed a huge crush for Elizabeth Shue.

Abraham S Sep 17, 2017 A legitimately good film. Not only that, but Adventures In Babysitting is an undetected classic of its genre. Somehow, this movie flew under the radar of every single critic in the nation to disappear between the tiny, tiny cracks in our nation's pop culture. Actually, that's a lie. Nothing escapes the eye of pop culture, which is why we all know who The Lone Ranger is despite his being a persona non grata for the last forty-odd years (And we do know who The Lone Ranger is, right kids?). And that's probably also the reason why you remember Adventures In Babysitting (AIB). Perhaps fuzzily, perhaps warmly, perhaps even fondly. Or maybe you saw it last week and hated it, I don't know. But I'm here to tell you that AIB is one well-oiled machine of a movie. And when I say machine I'm not talking about a heartless, soulless abomination like a Terminator or a Michael Bay movie. What I mean is that AIB meticulously crafted, well cast, and a perfectly paced thrill ride of a movie. Once our principal cast is introduced, the film simply does not let up, providing laughs and shocks in equal number and pausing only briefly to let us (and the actors) take a breath before moving along to whatever calamity in next in line for our youthful heroes. And I'd be hard-pressed to think of a more ingenious and flat-out fun MacGuffin than the copy of Playboy that keeps the mafioso baddies hot on our heroes' trail and provides many opportunities for babysitter Shue (bringing an 'A' game from the opening credits to the very end) to be compared to the centerfold. The cinematography is slick, whether depicting a smoky nightclub or a swanky cocktail party, thanks to DoP Ric Waite. Everything's cut together well, the geography of each scene is clear and easily understood. Watching this, it's easy to see how director Columbus landed the directing gigs on the first two Harry Potter movies: He makes everything so simple to follow that even a child can understand what's going on, even if they don't understand the gags that are aimed more at the parents who've been dragged to the theater. My only substantial complaint is that Columbus is quite obviously a protege of John Hughes, and some scenes and choices are just too blatantly derived from his films. The aforementioned nightclub scene is a setup right our of Weird Science (tho it plays out much differently), and the mad dash to beat the parents home is a straight-up copy of the climax of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Columbus' choice and placement of pop songs is a little too reminiscent of Hughes as well. But it was his first movie, so maybe I should cut him a little slack. All in all, AIB is a phenomenal kids' adventure film-well put-together, well acted, and hey, it's got freakin' Thor in it. Not even The Goonies can make that claim. 4/5 Stars. See more

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Adventures in Babysitting

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