Small Soldiers: Critic Reviews

As with many films in which special effects are the real stars, the technology here commands more respect and interest than the material otherwise warrants.

What bothered me most about Small Soldiers is that it didn't tell me where to stand--what attitude to adopt.

I can't think of a Hollywood entertainment I've enjoyed as much all year, and both audiences I saw the movie with seemed delighted as well.

...wildly entertaining...

...this smells like a script slapped together around a toy-product launch.

Fortunately, it's possible to ignore the morals entirely and simply enjoy the filmmakers' skill at creating carefully contained mayhem in a microcosm.

As absurd as the premise might seem, Small Soldiers works for two primary reasons: the visual effects ... are entirely convincing and the script ... never takes its tongue out of its cheek.

Though it starts promisingly, the picture ends as a standoff between the affection Dante and company bring to the project and its increasingly frenetic and tiresome emphasis on what special effects can make its little people do.

Smart satirical action-comedy about talking action toys.

An infomercial with the schmaltz that passes for emotion in family-aimed films.

Typical of Dante's films, Small Soldiers is an unbroken string of pop culture in-jokes.

It looks like the movie was edited down from a much meaner version, to our loss.

...an entertaining romp...

The animation is excellent, and the voice cast alone is worth the price of admission...

...aside from some funny puns (most of which have already been spoiled by the TV spots) and some pop-culture references that no child and most adults won't understand, Small Soldiers just isn't funny enough.