Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be covering a family film from 2001. That movie is "Osmosis Jones".
I'd like to start by saying that I have seen the TV show that this thing later got, which was "Ozzy and Drix". I remember watching it back when it first aired on Kids' WB, and I really enjoyed it. In fact, prior to going into this movie, I went ahead and rewatched most of the first season of "Ozzy and Drix" on YouTube. And, for the most part, the show does hold up rather well. There was one episode, however, that I couldn't find. I couldn't tell you if it was from season 1 or 2, but it was an episode where it involved Hector, the human character, smoking. Which is a shame, because that episode was really good.
Now, while I have seen the TV show, I never got around to watching the movie where it originated from. And I'm not totally sure why. I remember, back as a kid, watching the ads for it when it aired on TV, and I thought to myself "Well, that's certainly a thing". And I never really thought about it again, even when I was watching "Ozzy and Drix". But tonight, I finally get a chance to see this movie and see if I missed out on something really good. In fact, now that I think about it, this movie came out 20 years ago, so...holy shit, I can't believe this movie is 20 years old already. I'm sorry, guys, but knowing that fact now is fucking mind blowing to me.
Now, setting aside how long ago this movie came out, I do know that this movie is a hybrid of both live action and hand drawn animation. Which is nothing new to Warner Bros., because they have done this kind of thing before. We got "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", which was really good. "Space Jam", while ridiculously overrated, is still halfway decent. By the way, on the off chance anybody asks me about "Space Jam: A New Legacy", no, I have no interest in ever watching it. So you'll probably never see me cover it for this series. And then we got "Looney Tunes: Back in Action", which I thought was amazing. So, I know that Warner Bros. can do some amazing stuff, whenever they are tasked to work on anything involving a mixture of both live action and animation.
I don't know where "Osmosis Jones" is going to rank amongst those movies, but I'm certainly hoping for it to be as good as those other movies I've just mentioned. And the only way I'm going to find out, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Osmosis Jones".
3 minutes later
So, let me see if I understand this. Frank was fighting with this monkey, after it stole his egg that he was about to eat. Ignoring the fact that it dropped on the ground, where it's covered in dirt, and him saying that you can still eat it before the 10 seconds after you drop your food on the ground, the egg was already in the monkey's mouth. Did Frank not notice that, as he was trying to wrestle the monkey to get his egg back? If it were me, guys, I would totally let the monkey have the egg, so I can just go get a new one. That, guys, is just incredibly unsanitary.
16 minutes later
So the stomach area is, basically, this movie's version of an airport...all right. That's certainly creative. I can definitely say that. I'm wondering how you get out, though-never mind! I don't wanna think about that. There are too many possibilities with that scenario. I'm just NOT gonna think about that.
8 minutes later
OK, guys, I know this has nothing to do with the movie itself, but I'm curious. Is it often that you see camels at the zoo? I mean, granted, I haven't been to too many zoo's in my lifetime, but I don't recall ever seeing camels there when I was a kid. Again, I totally understand that what I'm asking is trivial, and stupid, but I'm just sorta curious, you know?
2 minutes later
Well, guys...even though this is a family film, that was probably the most gruesome death I have seen in this movie so far. I can't call it bloody, because, obviously, they would never show that, but it was certainly messy. And pretty cool, too.
11 minutes later
OK, I have a question. How the hell did this mayor ever get elected in the first place? Because, what he just promoted a minute ago was a chicken wing festival in Buffalo, New York. So, instead of trying to come up with something that's, at least, sorta balanced between getting healthier and checking out this virus that is, potentially, on the loose somewhere in the city of Frank, he just decides to go "Hey everybody, I present to you a chicken wing festival in Buffalo, New York". My God, how the hell did this guy get elected?! I'm really curious here.
14 minutes later
Well, guys, I think now might be a good time to mention this. The music in this thing is really good. Granted, I'm not really the biggest fan of hip-hop, but this music is certainly, kinda, catchy. I'm really digging it so far.
4 minutes later
Now, I have a question. It's kind of a stupid one, but I feel the need to ask it anyway. So, if Thrax has killed human beings before from the inside of their bodies, then how the hell is he able to travel from body to body after they die? I understand that it's a family film, and most children are not going to notice these sorts of issues, but, since I'm not a child, it's kinda bugging me, slightly.
14 minutes later
So, guys, you happen to remember earlier when I was about to make a snarky remark about how you get out of the human body, after you get into it? Well, I was sort of right. It's incredibly predictable, but at least I was right.
The Review
Well, guys, that was "Osmosis Jones". Let me shut the movie off...OK. Well, I will start by saying that this movie was pretty good. I really liked what was here. It's certainly a really unique film, even for the standards of Warner Bros. animation. Now, mind you, this movie is nowhere near as good as, say, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" or "Looney Tunes: Back in Action". But I will say it is a little bit better than "Space Jam". Partially because, I wasn't that big on "Space Jam" like most others. But that's neither here nor there. I should start by talking about the writing.
Writing in this movie, for the most part, is pretty good. There are some small problems, when it comes to the writing. And when I say that, I mean most of it's going to be minor, especially for those who have never seen "Ozzy and Drix", the TV show that this movie would later spawn. Now, I'm going to try to keep the comparisons to a minimum, because I want to judge this movie by it's own standards. But there will be two big examples I will bring up later on in this review, when I do make my comparisons to "Ozzy and Drix". I would like to start by saying that this movie, on several occasions, will try to shoehorn in a message by saying that we should be taking care of our bodies, such as eating right. And for kids, that is a fantastic message. Because this is the kind of stuff that kids should be learning. However, for adults who already know about this, it's kind of forced and unnecessary. Now, if you're someone who is trying to stay healthy, then you're probably the exception, because this movie will remind you to stay in shape and eat right. And, I will say that, when it comes to giving out a message, especially for a family film, this movie kinda does it in a subtle fashion. Especially when compared to other family and kids movies that I've seen, who try to force in a message about stuff such as saving the environment. Because that was one of the biggest ham-fisted messages that movies and TV shows were trying to shoehorn in the mid to late 90's. One other example I can think of is when Studio Ghibli tries to work in a message in their movies. Now, it's not all of the time. And, admittedly, some of it is hidden in a subtle fashion such as "The Cat Returns". In which, the message that movie was trying to give out was always follow your dreams, and that's totally fine. The worst case example, however, was when "Princess Mononoke tried to work in that message about how we should save the environment, and how we should stop killing trees. And that movie kept bludgeoning in that message throughout most of the movie. And it kinda took me out of the film, slightly, because it tried too hard to preach it's message. So, my point is, if you have a message, at least keep it subtle. And this movie certainly is one of the least bad examples of preaching a message to it's viewers.
However...with all that being said, this is going to lead to one of the first of two big comparisons I'm going to make to "Ozzy and Drix". And this has to do with the character of Frank, which is Bill Murray's character in this movie. I could totally see why Warner Bros. wanted to have a different main human character for "Ozzy and Drix". Because, Frank, in this movie, is not all that likable. Because he's seen as this person who keeps eating a ton of junk food such as chicken wings. And his personality doesn't really change all that much for the entire movie. The only way that it will change is when someone from inside his brain will speak to him as his conscience. Now, you could make the argument that the reason why Frank is not that likable has to do with the mayor of Frank, who insists on going to this chicken wing festival in Buffalo, New York. You know, the same mayor, that, somehow, got elected and is, probably, the reason why Frank is like this, both health wise and personality. Which, OK, I could totally see why that is. However, what sorta kills that theory is when, at the very end of the movie, without going too much into spoilers, he goes on this hiking trip with his daughter, and he ends up eating a carrot that his daughter offers him. And he says that this is a new start for him. Well, that would be a nice ending. However...and this is going to be a bit of a spoiler for the TV show, at the start of the very first episode, Frank is sitting on a chair while eating a ton of junk food. Things such as chicken wings, burgers, pizza, that kind of stuff. And when this movie was trying to make Frank sympathetic towards the end of the movie, it kinda kills it for me, because I know what happens to him at the start of "Ozzy and Drix". So, it kinda makes this, sorta, happy ending wasted. Because Frank goes back to his old ways. While I'm on the subject of Frank, the writing in this movie, at one point, goes pitch black in terms of tone. And it stands out, because the movie was going at a pace of being light-hearted, while working in some of it's darker humor. I'll get more into that when I talk about humor. But anyway, when Frank is in the hospital, there is one moment that the writing becomes incredibly dark, and, as I said, it stands out, and it might take you out of the movie some. Again, I can't really say how without going into spoilers, but I do have to warn you that some of this pitch black writing, that lasts about two minutes or so, could take you out of the movie some. So, you have been warned, on the off chance you haven't seen this movie yet.
I suppose that, since I just mentioned it, let me talk about the movie's humor. Because this movie has a lot of jokes here that were intended for adults. Some of it is really clever, and it kinda made me smile some. So, I can definitely say that if you're an adult, and you like to see some risque adult humor in your family films, this movie offers a ton of that. And that's not to say that kids won't enjoy this movie's humor. They definitely will get a kick out some of the adult humor, too. Provided, of course, if they understand the jokes. If not, then it will probably take a couple of years before they can understand any of the adult humor. Outside of the adult humor, there's also enough humor that will cater to kids, because, since this is a family film, you want to have enough to balance both sides of the spectrum. So there's enough humor here for kids and for adults to enjoy, so it's not like you'll have to worry about being one-sided when it comes to humor. Speaking of which, let's get to the characters. Osmosis Jones, or Jones, or Ozzy, whatever you want to call him, is a white blood cell cop that is serving the FPD, that is responsible for keeping the city of Frank safe. His character is very fleshed out, and he ends up being rather likable. Now, while I have mentioned the humor in this movie being really good, there is one bit of it that I didn't like. And that's whenever Jones has to spew out Pop Culture references that are either dated, or not funny in the slightest. Because, to me, one of the laziest ways anyone can write humor, is when you have to shoehorn in a bunch of Pop Culture references. You know, the kind of shit that Friedberg and Seltzer usually do in their movies, where they'll spew out references and they have to directly announce what they are trying to reference. At least here, we don't have any of that bullshit in this movie. However, I do still think that it's lazy, when someone has to write in Pop Culture references for the sake of humor. And they could've done without that here. As for Drix, he's a cold pill that ends up being Jones' partner. And, I have to say, Drix is probably my favorite character in this movie. Especially when he has to do some really funny stuff, such as whenever he's trying to dance. And some of this is probably the funniest shit in the entire movie, because I almost laughed out loud every time he tries to dance. It really is some of the funniest bits in this movie, and I can guarantee that you'll probably end up getting a laugh out of Drix's dancing, too. As for the human characters, the adults are not all that likable. The only likable human character in this movie is Frank's daughter, Shane. Who, even though she's suppose to be 10 years old, she talks like she's 18. And that, to me, seemed a little bit odd. But honestly, I'm not even going to consider it a negative. It's just kinda noticeable to me. And most other people will probably not notice that, or even care. So, I will say that, while the writing suffers from several bumps, it's not enough to bring the entire movie down. But it is certainly noticeable, if you go into this movie like I did.
With that out of the way, let's talk about the acting. Now, since this is a hybrid of both live action and hand drawn animation, I have to divide the acting into two different parts. I'll start by talking about the live action segments. The acting from there is really solid. Bill Murray, is, usually, really good at what he does. In fact, you could almost give him any kind bad script, and he'll turn it into solid gold. That's how good he really is. His character daughter in this movie is also really good, too. Which is stellar, because she would normally fall into the category of child actors who can barely act, if at all. But she does a good enough job to where she turns in a remarkable showing. Acting from the rest of the live action cast does great here, too. They were able to turn in some solid performances here. As with the voice acting from inside Frank's body, most of them do a really good job here, too. Chris Rock is able to shine well as Osmosis Jones. One actor I was kinda leery about, going into this movie, was David Hyde Pierce as the voice of Drix. Because, being that I have seen "Ozzy and Drix", I wasn't sure if he was the right actor to take on this kind of role, being that I have Drix's voice from the TV show memorized. However, he was able to show me that he could turn in a solid performance as Drix. And whoever did voice Drix from the TV show also did a good enough job to where he sounds close enough like David Hyde Pierce. As with everyone else in terms of the voice acting department, they did a really good job here, too. So, acting from both sides of the spectrum, is great. So, I can definitely say that all of the actors did a great job, given the scripts that they were given.
Animation in this thing is really good. I really like the attention to detail of how the inside of Frank's body operates as a living city. That, to me, I always found to be a really cool concept. And this movie certainly does take advantage of that. The art style is really good, and the character designs look unique and different to where none of it looks the same, especially considering that the majority of the character designs are white blood cells. This movie also utilizes a ton of CG, and, for the most part, the CG is rendered really well. However, there is one scene that looked kinda bad in CG. It's during the final climax of the movie, where Jones is hanging below Frank's eyelashes. And the CG on Frank's eyelashes looks...really bad. And, I mean, it looks really bad, even by the standards of 2001. So, I will say that, while that one scene of CG looks terrible, everything else looks great. In fact, this movie still looks really good, animation wise, 20 years later, and that is always awesome to see. However...I did notice something, with regards to the animation. And this is where my second comparison with "Ozzy and Drix" will come into play. Now, I want to make a mention that this is not really a fault of the movie. But more so of the TV show, because I feel like it's worth mentioning.
I gotta say that, watching this movie now, 20 years later, I noticed that the animation in this movie, when compared to "Ozzy and Drix", is incredibly jarring. And I'm not talking about jarring in terms of the animation budget. Because that happens when an animated movie gets it's own animated series. It will always look slightly less impressive, when compared to it's movie counterpart. What I'm referring to is when an animated series uses stock footage. For those who have never seen "Ozzy and Drix", in the very early season of that show, especially the first episode, the show will resort to using stock footage from this movie into it's series. So, you will have footage of when the movie first enter's Frank's body, and you see the population sign of "Welcome to Frank. Population: insert giant number here". And you'll also have footage of Jones and Drix driving together. And that one is especially noticeable, because, in the movie, Drix is rendered in CG. In the animated series, Drix is all hand drawn. And it's so jarring to see that, because "Ozzy and Drix" never utilizes CG. All of it is 2D animation. At least, the first season is. Who knows? Maybe somewhere in season 2, the show will utilize CG at some point. But anyway, we'll also have shots of the inside of Frank's mouth, which is also taken from the movie and used into the TV show. Or you'll have a shot of two white blood cell cops together, as they get a call from the police chief from within their patrol car. And the show will utilize that footage from the movie twice, maybe three times, into it's series. And it's really noticeable, at least to me, how the early first season of "Ozzy and Drix" was so cheap, that they had to utilize stock footage from this movie. Now, I should mention that, all of what I've mentioned is going to be absolutely trivial, and fucking stupid, to most people, especially to those who have never seen "Ozzy and Drix". And even if you do notice it, because you have seen it, you probably won't care about it either, because it's mostly just the early first season's episodes that takes footage from the movie. Most of everything after that is original footage utilized for the TV show. So again, all of what I just mentioned is more of a flaw on the TV show, rather than the movie. And this movie's animation, outside of one scene involving CG, is really good.
Camerawork in the live action segments is really good. Lighting here is done really well. Sound-mix is mostly competent. I will say, though, that there might've been one line of dialogue that is missing from this movie. And it's during one scene where Thrax, the main villain of the movie, has the Mayor's secretary hostage. And Jones, I think, was suppose to say something to him, but nothing came out of his mouth. I'm going to assume that was a fuck up on sound somewhere. I don't know if this was a problem on VHS or Blu-ray. But I will say that it was noticeable on the DVD that I bought. But it was just one line of dialogue, so I'm not gonna fault the movie too much on that. The soundtrack in this movie is pretty good. In fact, when I bought this movie on DVD, 'used' I might add, it came with a bonus sampler CD of songs from the movie. So, I can tell you who is a part of the soundtrack for this movie. We got Sugar Ray, P.O.D., Willa Ford, Craig David, Ray J, Little T and One Track Mike, Nappy Roots, and Invertigo. I only recognize two names on here, which was Sugar Ray and P.O.D. Everyone else I can write off as I have no fucking clue who they are. But I do know that P.O.D.'s music is pretty good. Sugar Ray, I haven't listened to much of his music. But I will say that what is here in terms of the soundtrack is pretty good. And I may give the soundtrack a listen to at some point.
Ultimately, guys, am I able to recommend "Osmosis Jones"? If you have kids, yes. This film is definitely an interesting movie. And even for adults, they definitely will get into this thing with it's, mostly, well written adult humor. If you're someone who's a health nut, and if you're interested in studying health, then I can probably recommend this movie to you. However, I do have to warn you again that there is that one moment in pitch black writing that can turn some viewers off. Plus, some of the Pop Culture references are incredibly stupid and dated at this point. But aside from that, I can still recommend this movie enough to where you'll get something out of the movie's writing. Now, with the comparisons and mentions I've made with "Ozzy and Drix", the question is do you have to watch this movie first in order to get into the TV show? The answer to that is no, because I've already made mention that I've seen the TV show before watching the movie. However, if you do what I did, then you might notice the inconsistencies between the movie and TV show. But, even then, both are still really enjoyable. In fact, now I kinda want to go and marathon the entire second season of "Ozzy and Drix" right now. So I'm gonna go do that, and this thing is going to have a happy spot on my DVD shelf.
Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all in the near future. Peace.
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