Video summary
The reviewer begins by expressing deep nostalgia for the 1990s and his childhood familiarity with *Barney*, contrasting it with his lesser knowledge of the character Buddy from the film in question. He notes that while the movie utilized a guerrilla marketing campaign to build anticipation, the final product was a mix of expectation and surprise. The core argument of the review is that the film suffers from a severe structural imbalance: the first act is described as perfection, capturing the essence of the original show with an incredibly straight-faced parody that feels both ridiculous and surreal. However, after this strong start, the movie fails to maintain its momentum, causing the overall experience to sour into what the reviewer calls an "entertaining disappointment."
The narrative structure is criticized for losing its edge in the second half, where the film shifts from a high-energy parody to a more dramatic tone that ultimately delivers little payoff. Although the director and writer had a great concept involving children trapped in an imaginary world filled with cheesy songs and choreographed dances, the execution falters after the initial hook. The reviewer points out that while the movie is rated R for blood and swearing, these elements are sparse and do not provide the bloody, funny content the audience craved. Instead of delivering the "cool kills" or intense horror moments promised by the rating, the film opts for a PG-13 level of violence that feels underwhelming, especially when compared to other recent horror films like *Five Nights at Freddy's*.
Despite these significant flaws, the reviewer highlights several standout strengths, particularly praising the performances and technical aspects. The acting is solid, with special commendation for the child actors who make rational choices rather than falling into the trap of making dumb decisions solely to create peril. The chemistry between Topher Grace and Cristin Milioti is noted as raw and realistic, adding a layer of genuine marital drama that works well before the film loses its way. Visually, the movie excels with its 4x3 aspect ratio that evokes 1990s films, beautiful set designs, and amazing costume work. Ultimately, while the reviewer admits it is worth watching as a fun R-rated experience for older kids, he concludes that it could have easily been one of his top five movies of the year if only the second half had lived up to the brilliance of the first act.
Read the full video transcript
[laughter]
>> I love you, you love me. Oh my god,
that's that's burned into my brain
still. Barney, Jesus, what a what a time
that was to be alive. It feels like a
million years ago.
Kind of honestly was at this point. The
'90s were a wild ride. I had a I had a
sister that was much younger than me and
she would have that stuff on repeat for
years straight. So, I'm very familiar
with Barney. I'm less so familiar with
Buddy, who's a character that was
created to to rival the purple mascot I
suppose in this bizarre new horror flick
that I was very interested in seeing,
especially with the kind of guerrilla
marketing campaign just giving tiny
little flashes of what you can expect.
Well, I saw the movie last night. It was
kind of what I expected and
unfortunately also what I was not
expecting. [music] I'm going to give you
the pros and cons in a spoiler-free
review right now.
Buddy, you stupid orange unicorn son of
a You really let me down, buddy.
You really you really dropped the ball,
buddy. And it is the ones that let you
down the hardest that really sting the
most because the first act of this film
is perfect. I freaking love this thing.
And then unfortunately,
it kept going and it kept dropping the
ball over and over until what I was left
with was an entertaining, pretty fun,
definitely interesting disappointment.
I will be entering a fresh score for
this on Rotten Tomatoes and I imagine
it's going to have a very positive
overall score from critics and
audiences. That said, this could have
been so much better. And it sucks
because it's all right there. The
director, the writer, they had a great
concept. Having kids trapped in this
imaginary world where they're singing
these cheesy songs, doing their
choreographed little dances, talking to
Pee-wee Herman type objects and
furniture, smiling and waving at the
mailman as he comes on by, or the nurse
when you get a little boo-boo. And then
of course, we have our lovable sidekick
Buddy and his pals. The film doesn't
even attempt to veer away from the fact
that it's Barney. I mean, he sounds like
him, he has the same cadence, the same
mannerisms, and that stuff is all just
perfect. Now, if you don't know Barney
cuz you're younger or just were
fortunate enough to avoid the show like
the plague, good for you. But, you also
are probably familiar enough with shows
like that. There There's so many of
them, the colorful kitty shows where
they're singing and doing the whole
educational thing while you know,
showcase the importance of friendship.
If you at least have a top-level
understanding of it, you will find
enjoyment by the parody going on here.
And they play it incredibly straight
man, which is really funny. I also have
to say, I was snickering and laughing a
lot throughout this movie because of how
ridiculous and just surreal all of it
is. Seeing a couch with giant googly
eyes, seeing a dumbass train with little
arms going down the tracks, it's so well
thought out. And anytime the camera
creeps on Buddy or one of his friends
and they do this like stupid ass face,
or they just have this stiffness to
them,
the director of this film, Casper Kelly,
absolutely needs to be commended for
those. I am going to be very vague on
the storyline because it's kind of
shrouded in mystery. I will just say,
again, the first third of this film is
just perfection. I was so excited for
where this was going to go. And the
roller coaster, it it's just on such a
good uphill climb and then a great
downhill run that you just think, all
right, we're going to have twists and
loops and turns and no. Unfortunately,
after that initial hit, the coaster just
kind of coasts. Occasionally getting
another uphill climb, but never giving
us that downhill fun drop that we want
desperately. This audience was hungry.
We were thirsty for anything remotely
close to a bloody, funny, swear-filled
film, and this does not deliver that.
Instead, it opts to be just a peak, just
a tinge more hardcore than Five Nights
at Freddy's, that PG-13 slop house
dreck. But, he is rated R for blood, for
some swearing,
but you don't really see a lot of it.
And some people will be very happy that
the kids are not getting tortured. This
is not a bring her back situation, which
is a very hard watch if you haven't seen
it. A very strong, powerful film.
It's a great, well-made movie, but it
can be very hard, especially for parents
to watch as some of these kids just get
completely abused. This does not,
thankfully, do that for a lot of people,
but because of that fact, you're just
not getting those cool kills. Even with
the adult characters that may or may not
meet their demise. So, anytime it pushes
a little bit overboard, where where
Buddy might shove one of the kids back
into place so they can sing their songs,
the audience breaks out laughing cuz we
we want more of that. You know, at one
point he calls someone a and it
it's so freaking funny, but they never
go all in on that kind of stuff. The
violence is not there. The dialogue,
which starts very straight man and
starts to get more unhinged, never gets
more clever, never gets more
interesting. And that's where the film
really just dropped the ball. Now,
there's a lot of strengths to this
movie. I love the look of this thing. I
love the the 4x3 aspect ratio, really
harkening back to the '90s films. It's
got that distortion on top of it all.
And then that aspect ratio is going to
shift to modern-day looks. We're going
to get widescreen format. It looks
beautiful. And that's where we're going
to get to the Cristin Milioti side of
it. She plays a character who knows
something's not right with her family.
And I'll leave it at that. But, that
stuff builds up really well, and it's a
great juxtaposition from all the stuff
going on with Buddy. You get this over
here, and then you get the more dramatic
side of things over here, where she's
kind of losing her mind, things aren't
adding up, and so she has to get to the
bottom of it. Very well done. I loved
all this But, once that switch
happens, once that second half starts
up, I was so let down by the direction
it takes. And everything that's built up
gets virtually no payoff at all. Listen,
it sucks watching a movie that's just
terrible from front to back. It's a
miserable time, of course. But, at least
you knew what you were getting into
typically after the first 15 minutes.
Like watching a Strangers movie. Okay, I
know this sucks. Let's just continue on
the journey with them until the suck
fest is over. But, something like Buddy,
where it starts at such a high, and they
get all the pieces in place only to
completely drop the ball and forget
about the pieces all together, it's
disheartening, and it makes the
experience sour. This felt like a film
you could show your kid to when they're
ready to start watching R-rated movies.
Cristin Milioti's character, Grace, is
married to the actor Topher Grace's
character. Topher Grace, her name is
Grace. That's That's weird. It doesn't
matter.
Uh Grace is nice. It was really fun
seeing Topher in this. I haven't seen
him in in a quite a while and Sally, the
last thing I probably remember him in is
Spider-Man 3 as as Venom. [laughter]
Uh not a great film to remember him. I
always like Topher Grace though,
especially on That '70s Show. Eric
Foreman's awesome. He's good here. They
have uh you know, some marital fights,
and man, the writer like nailed it. It
felt like I was having a stupid argument
with my wife. Just the way they
interacted together, they had a good
dynamic. The chemistry really worked,
and and it was very raw, and it felt It
felt real. And again, because it was so
good,
to just drop the ball on IT PISSES ME
OFF. GOD, WHAT DID THEY WHY? WHY? NOT
ONLY DID that work well, but the kids, I
got to give props to all the kid actors.
They were fantastic.
And for once, a movie doesn't do the
thing that I cry about all the freaking
time, which is have characters make dumb
choices that don't make any sense just
so they can be put back in peril. Here,
the kids all say things kids would say.
They all do things rational kids would
do. They also do things irrational kids
would do. It makes sense. Horror films
have gotten so bad with this over the
years that I was actually tensing up
whenever one of these kids was given the
option to do something or to say
something. In my head, I was thinking,
"The kid's going to say this or should
say this, and they should do this." And
the kid would do it every single time.
It was great. And even when they did
something by mistake or they they made a
wrong choice, it felt justified. It made
sense with the kids' character. It was
all really well handled. So, from a
human choice perspective, it's all
working. The acting is very solid in
this. I I loved Buddy's character. The
voice work is awesome. The costume
designs are amazing. The set designs are
perfection. The way it's presented is
just out of this world great. And so
again, the disappointment hits that much
harder. But overall, much like the other
film I saw the other day, Coyote vs.
Acme, it's worth a watch. It just could
have been so much better. This could
have been, honestly, one of my top five
best movies of the year. Because of that
first act, this could have leapfrogged
obsession pretty easily. I'm beating a
dead unicorn at this point. All right,
there you have it. My thoughts on Buddy,
good not great, which is a sad thing to
say. Let me know though, maybe you
thought it was just fantastic front to
back, or maybe you were too disappointed
by the choices later to give it a
positive review. I'd love to know either
way. Please think of subbing to the show
Adam Does Movies. I'm on YouTube, I'm on
Spotify, Apple Podcast. I also post tons
of exclusives now on Instagram and
Facebook, whether it's short quick
reviews or reaction videos to some of
the like cheesy stuff that my son hasn't
seen over the years, like the Sharknado
movies. We we watched Bambi recently,
the reckoning, not the original Bambi
Disney.
And those are a ton of fun. All right,
that's all I got. Hope to see you next
time. Take care.
Come on, kids. It's time to die.
Thanks again for watching the video. If
you didn't know, I'm a one-man operation
here at Adam Does Movies. I also have a
full-time job. I got a family to take
care of, and I would absolutely love if
you supported me on
patreon.com/adamdoesmovies
like these beautiful people did here.
These are the silver and gold members.
There's also a bronze membership
starting at $1, plus access to over 300
videos from the Adam Vault at any
support level. I would really appreciate
it. It's the best way to support the
show. Hope to see you there.