`Rocky and Bullwinkle' pull one out of a hat this time

Movie review

XX 1/2 "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle," with Robert De Niro, Rene Russo, Jason Alexander, Piper Perabo, Bullwinkle J. Moose (Keith Scott) and Rocket J. Squirrel (June Foray). Directed by Des McAnuff, from a screenplay by Kenneth Lonergan, based on characters created by Jay Ward. 88 minutes. Several theaters. "PG" - Parental guidance suggested for mild language.

"Hey Rocky! Watch me pull an ad campaign out of my hat!"

Again? This scenario would explain the groan-inducing TV commercials heralding the arrival of "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle." Like Bullwinkle's bungled parlor trick, they fail miserably. And that's putting it mildly.

Though the commercials make "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" look about as appealing as a pile of forest animal scat, the movie's surprisingly not bad. Believe it or not, true Moose and Squirrel lovers may even find themselves very amused for the first half of this picture.

That's no easy task. "The Bullwinkle Show" raised intelligent fans with keen ears for slick wordplay and an ability to comprehend veiled political and sociological digs. The plots, presented in serial cliffhanger segments that book-ended each show, were flimsy. The feckless heroes triumphed by pure dumb luck.

Half the jokes zoomed over kids' heads, hitting their parents right on target. Even so, children loved the flying squirrel and the simple moose.

"The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" - a mix of animation and live action - brings everything up to date and up to snuff, criminal puns and all. Even our heroes' voices are the real deal or close. June Foray, the original Rocky, returns, and Keith Scott is a fine replacement for the original Bullwinkle, the late Bill Scott (no relation). Cameos of everyone from Whoopi Goldberg to Billy Crystal to Jonathan Winters fly by as quickly as the clunky one-liners, but everyone stays in the spirit of the show.

Considering Hollywood's track record with making live-action duds out of good cartoons, "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" should go on the short list of successes. For the first half, that is. Right around the time that Nickelodeon's Kenan and Kel come along (playing Martin and Lewis, a comedy team from Bullwinkle's alma mater Wossamotta U.), the movie zooms downhill, degenerating into the typical road-movie formula topped off by a final battle that's beyond cliche.

The story starts in 2-D Frostbite Falls, where the once-pristine river is polluted, the forests have been clear-cut and Rocky and Bullwinkle's residuals have dried up. "Even their wordplay had become hackneyed and cheap," the narrator grimly intones.

Over in Pottsylvania, things aren't much better for Boris Badenov (Jason Alexander), Natasha Fatale (Rene Russo) and Fearless Leader (Robert De Niro) until they claw their way to Hollywood, where executive Minnie Mogul (Janeane Garofalo in a cameo) pulls them into reality.

Fleshed out and on the loose, Fearless Leader cooks up a scheme to take over America by founding RBTV (Really Bad Television). But the FBI is on the case, enlisting cub agent Karen Sympathy (Piper Perabo) to destroy the Pottsylvanian threat with the help of Rocky and Bullwinkle.

It could have been a failure of Badenovian proportions, but De Niro and Russo are excellent, having fun with their roles. Russo, in particular, has a lanky witchy-poo look about her that helps her truly embody Natasha. Alexander doesn't fit as easily into Boris Badenov's skin, but he's still fun to watch.

"Rocky and Bullwinkle's" greatest success, though, is that the journey into the real world maintains the cartoon's zany feel while smoothly incorporating '90s sensibilities. The sun shoots up into the sky with a boing, there's liberal abuse of TNT and they even slip in a funny spoof of "Cops."

As always, Rocky is a great straight squirrel to pea-brained Bullwinkle. "Can you believe we used to get paid for this routine?" Bullwinkle says after a particularly corny exchange, and you can't help grinning. Not only do we believe it, but we miss it.

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