90's Re-Watch: Cool World (1992)

Watched:  11/07/2021

Format:  HBOmax, I think.  

Viewing:  3rd?

Decade:  1990's

Director:  Ralph Bakshi

In 1992, I made my brother go with me to see Cool World.  It was my chance to jump on the Ralph Bakshi train, it combined animation and live action, and it had Gabriel Byrne and Kim Basinger.  Mostly I remember thinking "this movie is not great" partway through, and being aware that for being the horniest thing I'd seen in movies in a very horny era at the movies, it never seemed to be willing to take anything as far as it could have. Or should have,

Here, 30 years later, I don't think I've changed my mind, and I'm willing to be more honest about it.  I defended the movie a lot because it *tried* something new and different, and served it up to a mainstream audience.  My suspicion is that Paramount ended up defanging the film.  As there often is decades later, there are conflicting versions of events, but I tend to believe the Fritz the Cat guy was not shying away from a Hard-R and the studio flack decided to try and get teens into the movie.  

The movie does some things I like - it has a great scene in a comic shop circa the time of the film's release (and it's a kick that so many comics on the wall as collector items still haunt the walls of comic shops now).  But mostly I like what they did with a mix of animation and practical sets.  It's kind of a cool idea, if a little film-school-ish, but the overall effect works for me.  I basically like the idea of Pitt's human cop who has made the best of winding up in the Cool World, and the set-up of the convict surviving with his art, unaware of the influences from this other dimension.

But if you're going to go with a their particular set-up about toons - and you have Ralph Bakshi's track record - just make that movie.  (If you've not seen Cool World, the big threat is that if a human has sex with a cartoon, it might break down the barrier between the Real World and Cool World.  Guys, a human has sex with a toon.).  I mean, no, you're not going to get Kim Basinger for that movie, but you might get someone super fun and make a weirdo movie that at least goes somewhere.  

But, yeah, I have no idea what was in the script or what anyone intended, but there's no character development, long spans with no dialogue...  it's entirely plot driven but the plot is so thin, it needs a sandwich.  

These days, the soundtrack is probably as well known as the film.  Bowie put out a track for the movie, and it included artists like Moby, Eno, Thrill Kill Kult, Ministry and Thompson Twins.  The soundscape of the movie would suggest someone knew what they were doing, which is positively at odds with what's on screen.  

Anyhoo...  I have no idea what happened with this thing, but the end result is a sorta interesting mess for a studio release of the 1990's.