As we walked into the deserted movie theatre, of course, the only selection available was the PG movie, The War with Grandpa. With an all-star cast, we set out with optimism until we noticed the 29% Rotten Tomatoes rating. As we prepared for disaster, we settled in and patiently waited for the movie to begin. The beginning of the film opened with Robert De Niro acting as a sad widower. It was a stellar performance as he showed the emotions of a miserable man while trying to hide these emotions behind a facade. After this part of the movie, we laughed in our seats as the cheesy jokes and crazy antics began—what a rollercoaster.
It is important to note that the only other people in the theatre, mostly small children, barely laughed at this movie. There was no reaction to The War with Grandpa compared to when we saw Secret Life of Pets 2, where the audience was laughing the whole time. To put the movie into more context, The War with Grandpa has not made back even 50% of its budget in the box office.
While this genre of movie may have worked wonders in the 1980s, modern movie-goers are looking for something new and inventive rather than a remake of countless films that share roughly the same plot. The finale was incredibly anticlimactic as the “conflict resolution” method used was an overhyped dodgeball tournament (yes, you read that correctly) that somehow resulted in a tie and led to (SPOILER ALERT) the classic “everyone lives happily ever after” ending. The movie did promote SkyZone, though.
All in all, the authors would not recommend watching this movie because it disappointed, beyond our low expectations. The plot and characters are generic, and the story’s morals lack originality. This absence of humor combined with the COVID-19 restrictions essentially guarantee that this movie will fail at the box office. If you are into cheesy movies and non-humorous kids jokes, this movie is for you. This is the next Christmas in September movie you have been waiting for (they really did it). 2/10 stars.
Belmont Hill Movie Review: War With Grandpa
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