Joe Johnston – Honey I Shrunk the Kids
Johnston has an excellent track record with family-friendly adventure. This, The Rocketeer and Jumanji all show that excitement and good old-fashioned fun are registers in which he is comfortable. Back in the summer of 1999, The Phantom Menace and The Mummy were expected to be the summer’s big hitters and then The Matrix trounced them both (at least in terms of quality and genre impact).
Ten years earlier, it was supposed to all be about Bond, Batman and Indiana Jones (and in terms of box office, critical success and marketing hype it probably was – apart from Bond), but Honey I Shrunk The Kids still managed to secure itself a handsome wedge of that particularly crowded market place, garnering really positive reviews, enduring popularity and topping $200m in global box office off a budget of only $18m.
At the risk of failing to exploit the full potential of the HUG Thesaurus, Honey I Shrunk The Kids is lots of FUN. Good clean adventure, a bit of risk, some realistic family dynamics, decent special effects and a giant Oreo cookie. The predictable law of diminishing returns impacted on the sequels, but this was a great first outing for Johnston, who quarter of a century later still hasn’t forgotten to make sure that everyone enjoys themselves.