HONEY, WE SHRUNK OURSELVES

"HONEY, WE SHRUNK OURSELVES"
(1997) (Rick Moranis, Stuart Pankin) (PG)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
*None	None	Mild	Minor	None

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	None	Minor	None	Minor

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
None	None	None	Mild	Minor

QUICK TAKE:: Children’s/Adventure: Two sets of parents are accidentally shrunk to miniature sizes and watch as their kids have a party.

PLOT:: In this third sequel to "Honey, We Shrunk the Kids," Wayne Szalinsky (RICK MORANIS) prepares to send his infamous shrinking/expanding machine to the Smithsonian, while his wife, Diane (EVE GORDON), and sister-in-law, Patty (ROBIN BARTLETT) are planning a two-day vacation away from their families. So Wayne’s brother, Gordon (STUART PANKIN) brings their kids, Jenny (ALLISON MACK) and Mitch (JAKE RICHARDSON) over to his brother’s house to stay with Wayne’s son, Adam (BUG HALL). Through a series of mishaps, both sets of parents are accidentally shrunk down to miniature size. From then on, they must figure out how to get their kids' attention so that they can be returned to normal size.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they liked or are familiar with the "Shrunk" series, they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG: For mild language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: RICK MORANIS plays an inventor who is so self-absorbed in his work that he appears flighty and oblivious to his family's wants and needs.
The KIDS all play rather normal children, but they do take advantage of the parents not being home.; The KIDS all play rather normal children, but they do take advantage of the parents not being home.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 5 out of 10: This fourth installment in the "Shrunk" series, which makes its debut straight on home video, is also the shortest of the films, clocking in at 76 minutes (including credits). There is enough on-screen activity, however, that keeps this film from feeling too short. Essentially just a variation on this series' formula (this time only the parents are reduced in size), this is a somewhat enjoyable adventure-filled romp through the land of towering domestic objects. While it suffers from a lack of originality and tinges of overacting, this film, that's really aimed toward a young audience, delivers what's expected of it. There's enough interesting/entertaining material to keep parents from getting too bored and younger kids will probably find this film rather amusing and fun to watch. We give it a 5 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: There's not much to object to in this film. A few choice words and phrases may be too strong for parents of younger children who'd probably rather not have their kids hear them. A few scenes might prove to be a bit scary for younger viewers, especially one where a tiger-sized cockroach tries to attack one of the parents. Several other scenes are suspenseful as well, but more in a funhouse/amusement park way than from being intentionally scary (such as when the fathers are almost eaten from a bowl of onion dip, or where all of the parents ride in a toy car down a rollercoaster-type track). Parents should note that the kids have a party when they think their parents are gone, and several older boys crash the party and are obnoxious. That said, you should read through the listings just in case there might be something present that you would object to.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: There is none, but Jenny tells Adam and Mitch to "serve the ginger ale, I mean the champagne" at their party.

BLOOD/GORE: None.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: The kids disobey their parents' orders after they find themselves "home alone." They have a party, the boys "roller blade" through the house, etc... even though their parents explicitly told them not to.
Diane has a bit of a surly attitude for the first third of the movie, but later loses it.
The older boys who crash the girls’ party have both. One of them tries to forcibly kiss Jenny (telling her that lots of girls like that), but she sets him straight. He and the others then knock things over in the house and throws bags of chips around the room. When Jenny then tells them that the party is over, they tell her that they’re not ready to leave.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Gordon and the others must walk across a small stick (a foot bridge to them) over a deep "ravine" in the house.
The parents ride a fishing lure down the outside of the house. When the reel lets loose and they free fall, some kids may find this a little suspenseful.
The parents encounter a "giant" (to them) cockroach that follows them into a "roach motel." The others make it out the other side okay, but Diane gets stuck in the glue and the roach tries to attack her and she screams in terror. She finally makes it out, but very young kids might find this to be rather scary.
Diane and Patty encounter a "giant" (to them) "grand daddy long legs" that might scare younger kids, but the creature turns out to be friendly and helps them.
Several scenes have the parents encountering very high "cliffs" and "ledges" and may be unsettling to younger kids.
Mitch has a potassium deficiency and since he hasn’t taken his medicine, he starts to get sick later in the movie. He bends over (as with stomach cramps) and later passes out in the kitchen.

GUNS/WEAPONS: None.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Piece of junk," "Shut up," "You’re a maniac," "Idiot," "Sucky," "Brain box," "Queen Hell (name)," "Sucker," and "Loser."
Adam sings a song, "Great big gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts. Mutilated monkey meat. Dirty little grimy feet. French fried eyeballs swimming in a pool of blood..." The parents comment on that "disgusting" song and thus may cause kids to sing it themselves.
Adam packs his own lunch and takes chow mein noodles instead of a sandwich.
Mitch kicks the back of their car’s front seat to irritate Jenny.
There is the mention of a kid sneezing and rice coming out of his nose and then of Jenny having a spaghetti noodle do the same.
Wayne and Gordon drink a special concoction that makes their bellies glow from the inside. Some kids may try to drink their own concoction (of anything) to do the same.
Wayne asks the kids what a box of toothpicks costs. Jenny answers, "Six or seven dollars a box," so that they can have extra spending money.
Wayne asks Diane (after they’ve been shrunk), "Are you going to stay mad, or are you going to make the best of this situation?" She responds that she’s going to stay mad.
The kids take advantage of the parents not being in the house (they’re actually there, they’re just too small to see) and say that they can do whatever they want and "No matter what, our parents can’t find out."
The boys fill a balloon with chili and then heat it up inside the microwave. They then put the heated balloon in a medium scale volcano that later spews the chili down its sides and onto the table.
Jenny plans and then has a small party with her girlfriends.
The boys briefly "roller blade" through the house to serve ginger ale to the girls at the party.
Some boys crash their party and one of them forcibly tries to kiss Jenny.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): There is a minor amount of suspenseful music in a few scenes.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 2 craps, 1 hell, 1 "turd," 1 damn, and 6 uses of "Oh my God" and 3 uses of "Oh God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: None.

SMOKING: None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Children being left alone and following their parents orders (ie. Not taking advantage of that situation).
Mitch has a potassium deficiency and since he hasn’t taken his medicine, he starts to get sick later in the movie. He bends over (as with stomach cramps) and later passes out in the kitchen. Younger children will wonder what's wrong with him.

VIOLENCE: After they’ve accidentally been shrunken, Gordon grabs Wayne by the collar and then around the neck, but this ends rather quickly.
An older kid who crashes the party grabs the stereo remote from Adam, pushing him to the sofa. Another older kid then decides that he wants to sit there and yanks Adam from that spot.

Reviewed March 19, 1997

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