'Goosebumps' review: Without Jack Black, this one would have fallen flat!

Film: Goosebumps
Director: Rob Letterman, 
Cast: Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, Ryan Lee, Jillian Bell
Rating: *** (Three stars)

What's it about:
Young boy Zach moves to a new place -- by the looks of it, a veteran at it -- and here, his mother has been hired as the new vice principal at the school he will attend. He finds a kindred spirit in next-door neighbour Hannah and it's clear that there's an innocent attraction blossoming between the two. It seemingly gets cut short when her father -- a rather mysterious and curmudgeonly gent who warns him away. But an incident at Hannah's house catches his attention and he calls 911. They come over, but Hannah's dad manages to convince them that nothing's the matter. Zach gets a warning and is advised to stay away. 

Easier said than done. The boy asks his new friend at school, Champ to help him find out what happened to Hannah. They break in and open a locked manuscript, the words leap off the page and out emerges a monster that goes by the name, the abominable snowman of Pasadena. As Hannah arrives in time to try and 'contain the situation', they find that's easier said than done. Snowman refuses to go back into book until a certain, curmudgeonly gent who goes by name R L Stine (the author of the Goosebumps series, shwos up and saves the day. 
Only if that were the sole book opened that night...

What's hot:
Without Jack Black as both hero and villain, this would have fallen rather flat. He is to the cast, what the special effects are to the film. Without him, this would have been a rather flat, boring outing. His one-liners and righteously angry outbursts are to watch out for, especially when he gets worked up after a comparison with another bestselling writer of horror stories. Odeya comes across as the head-firmly-on-shoulders Hannah. It's entertaining to a point, but you can almost sense its potential lies in the home video run.

What's not:
Dylan appears a little too lost and his character Zach is written as the stereotypical teen who makes mountains of molehills and pokes his nose where it doesn't concern him. One gets that Ryan Lee's Champ was meant to provide comic relief, but he ends up being nothing more than an annoyance. The pacing of the story seems a little rushed and too many monsters seem crammed in one story... almost as if they were sure they wouldn't get a part two.

What to do:
As an adult, you won't really be in love with the film. Through a child's eye, however, this is stuff you'd definitely want to catch at least once on the big screen.