You've got a lot of guts. Let's see what they look like.

I remember seeing Small Soldiers for the first time back in the cinema in 1998 (Christ, ten years ago!), thanks to free tickets that where likely from a magazine or newspaper or some such thing, I remember not been entirely blew away from what I saw on the big screen, I remember enjoying a few moments, it just didn't wow me, so now roughly 10 years later I revisit Small Soldiers for the first time. As father time changed how I'll view the movie. In those ten years since I've come to appreciate Joe Dante more, become a much bigger Phil Hartman fan then I was then and grown to love David Cross (thanks in no small part to Arrested Development). So will I view the film any differently...

On a second belated viewing I enjoyed it more, I didn't find it fantastic by any means. If you don't know the plot to Small Soldiers, it goes something like this, Denis Leary, a very rich toy company boss pressures David Cross and Jay Mohr to come up with something special, Mohr logs on to a military website and buys special microchips, underestimating the power of these chips they are put into a series of action figures - The Commando Elite and The Gorgonites - delivery man Dick Miller later lets Gregory Smith, have a batch of the figures before release date to spice up his dad - Kevin Dunn's shop which doesn't sell anything violent, unbeknownst to Smith, these toys have a mind of their own and the Commander Elite are obsessed with wiping out the Gorgonites...

There is nothing too original feeling about this movie, I couldn't help but draw slight comparisons to Joe Dante's earlier work Gremlins: A young man getting hold of something he really shouldn't have and cause havoc, the Gorgonites are pretty much the Gizmo of the movie, even the relationships between the fathers of Smith's character and Kirsten Dunst's character (played by the legendary Phil Hartman) which was pretty much built on conflict, flight a little bit been there done that. There are some good moments like when Dunst's Gwendy (like Barbie) dolls are programmed with these chips by the Elite and begin to attack Dunst (the Gwendy dolls are all voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Christina Ricci) and I got a kick out of some of the voices, as well as the small roles from Dante staples Dick Miller and Robert Picardo. On a sad note, it's sad seeing the film knowing Phil Hartman was shot by his wife before the film's release.

Overall, it's improved on a second belated viewing but remains nothing to write home about, there's enough to recommend and despite some minor violence it's a good movie for the little ones.

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