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Click here to return to the main site. DVD Review
The Flintstones and the Rubbles head for Rock Vegas with Fred hoping to court the lovely Wilma. Nothing will stand in the way of love, except for the conniving Chip Rockefeller. Will Fred win Wilma's love? (Yes obviously, as this is a prequel and we know they end up together. Where is the jeopardy I ask you...?) The Flintstone in Viva Rock Vegas is a 2000 prequel to 1994's The Flintstones. Bearing in mind that this is a kid's film, it manages to actually fair a little better than the first movie. This could be in part thanks to the injection of a little adult humour, but the story is also a little more interesting. None of the actors from the first film return (other than Rosie O'Donnell who lends her voice to one of the creatures in a very brief cameo). Maybe the biggest problem, though, is that too much is shoehorned into the film. It opens in space with Gazoo being sent to Earth to learn about humankind's mating rituals. But then Gazoo is quickly forgotten about and seems to vanish for a big part of the movie. But that's no bad thing, as Gazoo (portrayed by Alan Cumming - who also plays Mick Jagged) is more than a little annoying. The first act of the movie introduces us to Wilma and Betty as the they meet for the very first time. Fred and Barney are old pals and work together, but they have yet to meet their future spouses. Here we follow them as they meet and start dating. Fred originally asks Betty out and Wilma is invited along as a date for Barney - but when Barney and Betty realise they have more in common they pair off leaving Fred and Wilma to get to know each other. We also learn where Fred and Wilma originally got Dino from. The next act sees Wilma finally having to admit that she's the daughter of the wealthy Slaghoop family (Wilma's father is played by Harvey Korman, who voiced The Great Gazoo in the animated series) and there's much slapstick comedy as Fred, Barney and Betty don't really fit into high society. The final act sees Wilma's old boyfriend, Chip, inviting everyone out to his casino in Rock Vegas. However, he has another agenda. He plans to split Wilma and Fred up so that he can marry Wilma and inherit her family fortune. This involves getting Fred hooked on gambling, so that Wilma sees another side of him. These three acts are all very different and in the days of the cartoon series would have made for three enjoyable episodes, but something about it doesn't quite gel right for a movie. Extras include Spotlight on Location (15 min, 40 sec making of feature); Theatrical Trailer (2 min,16 sec); text based Production Notes and Cast and Filmmakers. As this seems to be a reissue of a very old edition of the DVD, we also get DVD-Rom materials and a page that informs us that we can sign up to the Universal newsletter (which no longer appears to be active). The DVD-Rom material appeared to download software to your computer, but wouldn't actually run (as I assume that it's not really configured for Windows 8. As this is a kid's movie, it would be rather silly to pick away at the holes and silliness of it all. It's a film that grownups should also get a little light relief from - especially if you were a fan of the animated series. 7 Nick Smithson Buy this item online
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