[image-1] Furry Vengeance stars Brendan Fraser (The Mummy) as a conflicted real estate developer working to complete a luxurious subdivision in the Oregon wilderness. The developer soon runs into trouble — but not from your typical environmental protesters. Fraser does some good work as the unraveling developer, though it seems at times like he is just in it for the paycheck. Regardless, it’s the animals themselves that are the stars of Furry Vengeance, and they are a cuddly force that demands to be reckoned with.
Furry Vengeance takes its seemingly simple concept (call it The Animal Empire Strikes Back) and makes it work. Many of the comedic gags (though slightly overused) will have you laughing louder than the children who forced you to take them to the movie in the first place. The CGI is acceptable, and minus a few gimmicky shots, will temporarily fool you into believing in this uprising of woodland creatures. For example, the Hollywood magic used to make the cute little critters “talk” to each other is creative, and leads to some of the biggest laughs of the film.
[image-2] Of course, behind all the cuteness lies the environmental theme of Furry Vengeance, with Fraser’s family man just trying to do what’s best for his wife (the still lovely Brooke Shields) and child, even if it’s at the expense of Mother Nature. No matter where you stand on Green issues, you’ll have to admit that the film makes an excellent point about how mega-corporations try to masquerade as environmentally friendly operations. But how hard will you be pressed by Furry Vengeance’s green thumb?
The answer is quite a bit. That said, the message didn’t overpower the comedy and feel-good qualities of the picture for me. Yes, the entire story is your standard “man vs. nature” tale, but the heart, humor and many zany little creatures running amok make Vengeance a winner. Your children (or perhaps the children you baby sit just so you can see the movie without shame) will adore Furry Vengeance’s animals and the crazy stunts they do, while the message underlying the action won’t distract them from outrageous laughs.
Furry Vengeance won’t completely knock your socks off if you’re an adult, but it will leave you feeling fine — just as long as you don’t try to think about it to hard.
With the current state of the world affairs including an economy on life support, a massive Teabagger movement constantly rubbing its junk in our faces on cable news, and a never-ending litany of Hollywood, sport and political sex scandals, we humans have little time or energy left to worry about Mother Nature’s impending eco-drama. (I'm not counting the fine work here at CL’s Green Community, of course). Luckily for the Earth, the woodland creatures of the forest have a defense strategy in place to deal with man’s rampant neglect. Furry Vengeanceis upon us, with raccoons, skunks and wild bears leading a laugh-out-loud family romp into theaters this week. But should you expect a cute little comedy or 90 minutes of green propaganda?
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