Goosebumps - B

Jack Black

Rated PG, 103 minutes

The creepy fun new horror comedy for young folks, "Goosebumps" is perfect fun for teens, tweens and other young ones: it's busy, busy and full of energy, with a short attention span, but note that for young kids, it's brims with an level of intensity - in other words it may be too scary for those under 10. Teenager Zach (Dylan Minnette of "Saving Grace") is new to town and meets new neighbor Hannah ("The Giver's" Odeya Rush) whose father is R. L. Stine (Jack Black), writes the "Goosebumps" stories and keeps all the monsters in the series locked up in his manuscripts. Zach and his friend Champ (Ryan Lee of "Super 8") unintentionally open one of Stine's books, leading to the release of everyone from the manuscripts like Slappy the Living Dummy (voiced by Black), the Abominable Snowman, The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, the Giant Mantises, and the living lawn gnomes. Now the four must team up to put the monsters and Ghosts back where they came from before they cause some serious damage. Directed by Rob Letterman ("Shark Tale") and written by Darren Lemke from a story by acclaimed writing team of Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (who have written numerous films including "Problem Child" to last year's Tim Burton drama "Big Eyes"), based on Stine's very popular and prolific (over 60 of them) children's book series, "Goosebumps" is creepy fun that bounces with energy from one scene to the next and filled with so much CGI it may give adults a headache, but otherwise it's a fun, sometimes scary ride. Scored by veteran "Batman" composer Danny Elfman, it's cookie-cutter, predictable plotting reminds of numerous flicks like "Gremlins" or "Tremors" in which seemingly unstoppable creatures are unleashed, but then that could very well be the point, though its target audience may not really get its satirical, even sarcastic tone, just that there's loads of semi-cool looking monsters causing lots of damage. "Goosebumps" does prove one thing: that it's possible, with a ton of CGI visuals and special effects, to actually upstage Jack Black, who's remarkably restrained but still memorably goofy here in a fictional version of author Stine, who's indeed a living, breathing person (and much older than Black). Though there's no bloodshed, it's still pretty creepy stuff, especially some of the creatures, most of whom are actual characters in Stine's books, particularly Slappy, those enormous bugs and of course the creepiest in my opinion, the gnomes, which might have Expedia rethink its commercials; on that note: I wouldn't recommend it for any children under age 8 or 10 unless accompanied by an adult to help contain them. "Goosebumps" is full of boundless energy, dizzying visuals and serviceable, enjoyable entertainment, and remind your kids to hold on tight, that it's all in good fun and will eventually come to and end, just think twice about going again.