The Little Rascals Save the Day (2014)

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I used to love the original little rascals TV show and the movie this new movie is an awful portrayal of what is supposed to be the little rascals. They didn't even have all the original character names and they put a girl in their club which was everything they stood against in the original movie. They could have done a better job in my opinion. They could have given the children more practice the acting wasn't the greatest. The original was much better and by far funnier than this version. Though they came close to making the cast close to the original It still wasn't as good . I'm highly doubting the directors made their money back off of this film. If they did it's only because the people buying/renting it were under the impression It was like the old one . All over disappointed.

For the record, "The Little Rascals Save the Day" is not supposed to be a sequel to the 1994 film "The Little Rascals". But as with the 90's flick, it is intended to be a reboot of Hal Roach's original Little Rascals (originally known as "Our Gang") from the 1930's. And for the record, I did grow up with the 1994 movie, and still have a soft spot for it. However, once I discovered the old "Our Gang" about a decade ago, I didn't find the 90's reboot nearly as awesome as the original classics. Just my opinion.Either way, the film is flawed. As with the 1994 movie, this one borrows heavily from the original series. The basic plot is based on the 1931 film "Helping Grandma," the kids' band (as well as its creative name) is picked up from 1934's "Mike Fright," a scene involving an explosive cake is taken from 1932's "Birthday Blues" (complete with the memorable "weep wow" sound effect). It wouldn't be a Rascals film without the Woodchucks high-sign. You get the idea. And hey, there's even a few inside jokes for fans of both the original series and the 90's flick. The kids attend "Robert McGowan Elementary School" (a reference to "Our Gang"'s first director), a marquee outside of a movie theater reads "Hal Roach Film Festival", and Bug Hall (90's Alfalfa) has a small cameo.So what's wrong with this movie? Recreating the Little Rascals is a difficult task. Especially in the technology-driven twenty-first century. That being said, placing characters from the 1930's in a modern day setting was a mistake. Unless the idea was played for laughs (à la the Brady Bunch movies). The Rascals seem out of place here, with their homemade cars and musical instruments, and their choices of headgear. The kids building their own material made sense in the Depression era, when most people didn't have money, and generally had to find their own ways to entertain themselves. Additionally, the overall film is missing the charm that made the original series (and to lesser extent, the 90's movie) so great. "Our Gang" relied on kids acting like... well, kids. The original gang had the sort of adventures kids would want to have, and adults wished they could have had when they were kids. Another part of the original series' charm was that the majority of the young actors were portraying themselves. Therefore, the writing/directing almost always came off as natural (at least before the series jumped the shark/boned the fish in the 1940s).But my biggest concern is more along the lines of how the characters were written. I wouldn't have minded the way the characters were depicted if the script was written to match the actors' personalities (again, referring to the natural acting that made the original series such a hit). However, the writers attempted to recreate some of the characters from the old "Our Gang". For the most part, America's favorite kids aren't exactly written the way they ought to have been. Spanky is a bit too chipper for my liking (though that may be due to young Jet Jurgensmeyer's performance). But at least he has a personality in this movie (he's even involved in an admittedly decent side story in which his friends decide to quit on him). Most of the rest of the kids are about as interesting as mud. It's a shame, considering the writers chose a nice array of memorable characters to recreate. I do wish they had spent more time studying the individual personalities of the kids rather than simply placing lookalikes in situations reminiscent of the Our Gang world.And why is Waldo the villain (again)? In every adaptation that reuses Waldo, he is depicted as a bad guy. This wasn't the case in the original series, where Waldo may have rivaled Alfalfa for Darla, but never seemed to fully realize it. The original Waldo was more of a mutual friend to Alfalfa and co. And where are his trademark glasses in this movie?Speaking of off recreations of characters, Kennedy the Cop (played in the original series by the brilliant Edgar Kennedy, and here by character actor Lex Medlin) is depicted as someone who hates kids (especially the Rascals) in this movie. The original Kennedy was a surrogate uncle to the kids, usually spending more time hanging around them than doing his job. Seeing him openly despise the Rascals is off- putting.Other characters, like Butch and Woim (called "Worm" in this film), could have been written out easily.As for the cast themselves? The kids are a mixed bag. Some are decent actors, others could have used better direction. And others are a bit too over the top. And because this is an Alex Zamm family film, the usual array of cartoon-y humor is prevalent. But I'm sure his heart was in the right place. He clearly likes the original Rascals, and most likely grew up watching them in reruns on TV. And only someone who likes the original series would throw out names like "Mr. Kaye", "June", and "Edgar" (you have to be a fan of the original series to get those references). Heck, he even did a pretty decent recreation of the sort of neighborhood the original Rascals would often hang around in.Not an awful movie, but it could have been better. Us purists may not love it, but I wouldn't be surprised if kids will (after all, it is a kids' movie). Though strangely, it seems as though us fans of the original series are more lenient towards this flick than fans of the 90's one. Whatever your preference of Rascals era, give it the movie a shot and form your own opinion.

A sad movie indeed. Not because the story is sad it's just that the characters and acting is just so bad .... very unfunny bad. I don't even think a child would laugh from start to finish.And honestly the children cast as "the rascals" looked as if they had all been weaned on a sour pickle and fed lemons while making this - movie? Doris Roberts as Grandma was more like a robot programed to speak when prompted. Awful!Not one minute of this disaster was unpredictable. It was more like the Rascals in a time warp ... early 20th century over fed kids finding themselves in the 21st century.A sad unfunny movie with sad unfunny characters just reading their lines and thats it.

A great family/kids movie masterpiece, it's pretty good to see The Little Rascals back in action. Really enjoyed the original 1994 film "The Little Rascals" that was a comedy classic. The new one has brought it back to life and we were looking forward to it. Outstanding plot, the children's cast Drew Justice, Eden Wood, Jet Jurgensmeyer, Connor Berry, Jenna Ortega, Rio Mangini, and the rest of the children's cast were incredible. The young actors brought the characters to light especially Drew Justice as the great Alfalfa. Overall most definitely recommend "The Little Rascals Save The Day" if audiences loved the original they'll love the new installment.Director: Alex Zamm Writer: William RobertsonBig Thanks!This one is a must watch for all families. This one deserves a Excellent rating and review. Given this one a thumbs up! great cast and crew. Good job!