HONEY, I BLEW UP THE KIDS

US, 1992, 89 minutes, Colour.
Rick Moranis, Marcia Strassman, Lloyd Bridges, John Shea.
Directed by Randall Kleiser.

Honey, I Blew Up the Kid is the sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, the very successful 1989 Disney feature which pleased family audiences. This sequel is more of the same. Once more, Rick Moranis is the eccentric inventor who accidentally inflates his baby child. Marcia Strassman is his exasperated wife. However, there are some villains in the form of John Shea, a jealous scientist. However, all is eventually well because it is in the hands of Lloyd Bridges.

The first film was possibly more sympathetic because the children were miniaturised and it is easier to have sympathy for smaller people being terrorised rather than, as here, with a large baby who threatens everybody else. The film is reminiscent of '50s science fiction films where large creatures terrorise screaming populations running in all directions. There is plenty of that - especially with the location in the centre of Las Vegas.

The special effects are enjoyable, the giant child in the home, in the streets of Las Vegas, picking up a car as if it was a model, having his brother and the babysitter in his pocket...

The film is an easy entertaining and was directed by Randal Kleiser, best known for Grease and The Blue Lagoon. His films for Disney include The Flight of the Navigator and White Fang.

1.The audience intended? Family, children? An entertaining sequel to the popular original?

2.Nevada, Las Vegas, the desert, the laboratories? - Real enough to be believable?

3.The special effects, the fantasy? The baby growing bigger, in the house, on the streets? In Las Vegas? The musical score?

4.Wayne and his skills as an inventor, as a zany person, eccentric? The gadgets in the house, the phone on his head? His love for Diane, his children? His work at the laboratory, the jealousy of Hendricksen?

5.His daughter and her going to college? Nick and his wanting to play the guitar, the baby standing on the guitar? His job, questions about girls, attraction to Mandy, the phone call?

6.Adam as a lively baby, getting out of the playpen, mischief? His skill in talking - vocabulary, intonation!

7.The work at the laboratory, the experiments to inflate objects? Wayne wanting to go back, Nick helping? Taking the baby? Taking the big bunny? Smitty and his attentiveness at the door, getting in touch with Hendricksen? The experiment, Adam getting out of his stroller, he and the bunny being inflated? Going home, the microwave - and his growing bigger? Mayhem in the house, his being chased around the house, the variety of visual jokes? Buying the clothes, taking him back to the laboratory, pretending he was Jugoslav uncle? Taking him back home, Diane's reaction? Wayne and Diane going to the laboratory to find the miniaturiser? Their search in the warehouse? The van and its reversing, going fast, miniaturising the police? Mandy arriving as the babysitter, fainting, being tied up, screaming? The baby in front of the television - and Richard Simmons' aerobics? The waves affecting him and his growing bigger? Out of the house, the chase through the street, the children at the party at the pool? His being caught, in the vehicle, the electric wires along the highway and his being enlarged?

8.Nick and Mandy chasing Adam, his putting them in his pocket? The danger of their being crushed, airsick, in the car, perched on the sign, Adam playing and sweeping the car around like a toy? The danger of falling? Their still being miniaturised at the end - and having some time together before getting back to normal?

9.Diane and Wayne, chasing the baby? Stirling and his support - and firing Hendricksen? The chase, the ideas, going on top of the big bunny and singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," Wayne in the baby's pocket and falling down the leg of the overall? The plan with the ice cream van? Turning off the lights, the baby pursuing the van?

10.Hendricksen and the board member, their plotting? His hostility to Wayne? Getting the military, hiring the helicopter, making demands? Trying to fire at the baby? And his being punched by Diane at the end?

11.The glitter of Las Vegas, the people in the street, running hither and thither? The TV coverage and commentary? The baby walking, the games, the breaking of cars, playing with the car like a toy, following the ice cream truck? The visual jokes of the large creature on the city? The Hard Rock Cafe - and the guitar?

12.Diane and her idea to be inflated, her coming to the rescue of her little boy?

13.The happy ending, everybody back to size, Nick and Mandy romantic, Stirling giving Wayne the job? A happy ending for everyone?