At the halfway point in The Space Rodent, Morris shows that the movie has spunk to spare. This is also the point where everything gels together and the deal is sealed because we now have something memorable on our hands. That magic moment is called back in a way that seals the deal again, as yellow and blue really do make green here.
Also, the rats are kinda awesome. The puppet used for the smaller rats is well-crafted and scary as hell. Lord Ganack is a gorilla costume with a rat face on it. It has a distinct meld of cheap and inspired that dances on the dividing line of admiration and hilarity. Get the rats right, and you have already won, as the rest can be stuffed with pink fiberglass filler. But not here.
Carrera’s screenplay skips the monster movie filler and instead gives us a full-fledged, infested buddy comedy. The dialogue is bouncy between both the men and the women, with some very amusing interplay. Bernard and Broadnax, in particular, are a total hoot with the girl talk on the endless ride in the sticks.
“…the movie has spunk to spare.”
The people parts in The Space Rodent are never boring, which puts it ahead of 99% of monster movies. I was just expecting a party movie that you would have a great time medicating through. But it is more than that. Not to say you can’t party to it, as the opening would be very fun to do bong hits to. But this isn’t “so bad it’s good,” it is just plain good.
It has plenty of pepper for the newly middle-aged audiences, as the Tori Amos posters and Gen X music references will delight. All the movie references, not so much, as some corny jokes make you hope they die. Carrera is very likable and very funny, which probably drove this movie’s ambition further so he could write good material for himself. Minard is a master straight man, a steely Abbott to Carrera’s goofy Costello (Google it, whelps).
I would argue that the real big deal here is how, after a decent but unremarkable post-credit sequence, both barrels unload with a full-blown sequel to the movie we just saw. It is done entirely in photos running alongside the credits, and the sequel is a masterpiece. It is worth watching the first movie just to see what they would have done with the second.
The Space Rodent is the space rat event of the season.
"…the space rat event of the season. "
