Casper
Rating: 4/5
By: Nathaniel Simpson
Almost everyone is scared of ghosts. These haunting spirits usually enjoy terrorizing human victims, either forcing them out of their homes or enjoying the fact that they are living in fear. However, what if there was a friendly ghost, perhaps one that simply doesn't want to scare the living, but be friends with them instead? That is the whole point of the character of Casper the friendly ghost, an adorably-designed little spirit who simply wants a friend more than anything in the world. When he gets the big screen-treatment, with a film starring Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci, there is no doubt that his feature film debut is full of laughs and delightfully spooky haunts, as well as capitalizing on a heartfelt story that will move every single member of the audience.
The movie starts with a spoiled heiress named Carrigan Crittenden (Cathy Moriarty) finding out she has been left her father's manor in Maine. Spiteful that that is all he left her, she begrudgingly goes to check it out, only to be terrified to learn that there are three spiteful spirits haunting the mansion. Hopeful that she can rid the spirits from her new home, she calls upon specialist Dr. James Harvey (Pullman), who claims he is a ghost therapist and helps these trapped spirits move on to the afterlife.
When he gets there with his daughter Kat (Ricci), they encounter the three spirits, who are named Stretch (Joe Nipote), Stinkie (Joe Alaskey), and Fatso (Brad Garrett). With the name of the Ghost Trio, they revel in scaring and terrorizing humans, and they treat James and Kat the same way. However, they also meet their smaller cousin named Casper (voiced by Malachi Pearson, Devon Sawa portrays Casper in human form), who falls head over heels for Kat and will stop at nothing to try and impress her and be his friend.
Easily the best thing about this movie is Casper. Pearson plays him in such a way that adds childhood innocence and wonder to his character, which makes him feel so relatable to children and for those that are children at heart. His character is simply so fun to watch and spend time with here, from him trying to convince Kat and James that he is not a harmful ghost to him cooking breakfast for the two humans the next morning. At the same time, Pearson plays him in such a way that makes the viewer empathize with him. Casper is simply just a lonely ghost of a child who just wishes he had friends like everyone else, and Pearson's performance and how they write/animate the character really sells him so well. I also want to add that Sawa does a wonderful job giving Casper a human body, even though it is brief in the film.
Ricci and Pullman play such fun characters with amazing chemistry together. She plays the angsty pre-teen daughter who is upset that her life was uprooted and being forced to move into a haunted mansion, but it's wonderful watching this character development from her as she settles in and starts to see Casper as her friend. At the same time, we see this character evolution for James as he is hoping to find his wife who has passed, and it shows how he is struggling to raise and relate to his daughter while also trying to make her proud.
The Ghost Trio is a lot of fun to watch, and the antics they pull are quite funny. I really enjoy the way these animators craft these ghost characters and give them such personality through their facial and body movements. Moriarty also does a good job of really making her character so despicable and annoying, really selling the trope of the spoiled child who doesn't get what she wants. On top of all these performances, we also get cameos of huge names, such as Dan Aykroyd in his Ghostbusters costume, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, and John Kassir as the Crypt Keeper, all which are quite fun.
The story moves at a very good pace and keeps the viewer entertained for the most part. The characters really drive this piece, and the story of Casper and how he became a ghost really pulls on the heartstrings. They craft Casper to be this sort of relatable and empathic character, and I think his story really works in the constraints of the film. However, when we get towards the third act, I feel like the movie goes off the rails a little bit and they sort of add in a bunch of elements that didn't really need to be there. The climax feels very quick and the movie doesn't culminate to this ultimate showdown enough for it to be this massive payoff for the characters and the story. At the same time, they try to throw a lot together that simply don't fit within one another.
All in all, this is a classic Halloween-time movie, one that I always enjoy whenever I watch it. Casper is easily one of the best and most adorable ghost characters ever created, and director Brad Silberling really captures the beautiful nature of this story and this character so perfectly. Casper will always remain one of the staples of Halloween season, and this movie is a perfect representation as to why.
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