Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989) – Film Review

Wayne Szalinski (Rick Moranis) is a crazy scientist who is troubled by his inventions in this Disney classic. Hidden away from his family is a machine that will shrink anything its beam touches. The only problem is it doesn’t work. Imagine Szalinski’s surprise when he and his wife return home to find both their children, the ‘thinking chair’ that occupies the attic and their neighbour’s children are all missing. The slowly come to realise that after an accident with a baseball ball the shrinking machine actually works and their children are fighting for their lives in the back garden.

This loveable eighties comedy packs a lot of action into its 93 minutes whist it captures Moranis at his best. Matt Frewer appears as the complaining neighbour whilst his wife is played by Buffy star Kristine Sutherland.
The effects employed in the film add to its likeable quality with the fight scene between the ant and an invading scorpion being a favourite.

The children (Thomas Wilson Brown, Jared Rushton, Amy O’Neill and Robert Oliveri) make their new smallness believable without being annoying or bratty but the overall star of the film is Moranis. After a visual acting break (he’s appeared in several films as a speaking part), re-watching Honey I Shrunk the Kids may leave you wondering why he hasn’t been in more.