They will make a movie out of anything. “Thunderbirds” is proof.
This kid-oriented lollapalooza is based on the super-weird 1960s British TV series of the same name. Let me quickly add that the series (and its spin-offs) is widely beloved all over the world, and still cherished as a cult item. But when I was a kid, I thought it was super-weird.
The series was about a family, a father and his sons, that piloted crazy airborne rescue vehicles known as the Thunderbirds. Using the latest technology, they would dash about the planet saving people.
The show was done with puppets. Not hand puppets, mind you, but marionettes on strings. Big blocky heads with those dead glassy eyes and the strings visible everywhere. It still gives me the creeps.
Anyway, all these years later, a feature film has been made of “Thunderbirds,” without the puppets. The movie is aimed at kids, and on its own terms, it’s lively, good-humored fun.
Billionaire astronaut-widower Jeff Tracy (Bill Paxton) runs the Thunderbirds from a remote island in the South Pacific. He has five boys, the elder four of whom are pilots in the rescue team. Youngest kid Alan (Brady Corbet) wants to join the crew, but is considered too young and irresponsible.
Leave it to Thunderbirds arch-nemesis The Hood (Ben Kingsley) to put the Tracys in such peril that only Alan can save them. With a boost from pink-clad super agent Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward (Sophia Myles) and his little buddies Tin-Tin (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) and Fermat (Soren Fulton), Alan might be able to redeem himself.
The film emphasizes the five Thunderbirds vehicles, which are numbered and color-coded, by the way. These are slick, and undoubtedly already available at your local toy store.
The human puppets – er, actors – are not as polished as the Thunderbirds. But Anthony Edwards is appropriately distracted as Brains, the science nerd at the control panel, and it’s a relief to see Ben Kingsley actually enjoying himself in a movie.
The director is Jonathan Frakes, the former “Star Trek” actor (although I suppose nobody is ever a former “Star Trek” actor) turned director. Frakes should get some credit for keeping the movie zippy and cheerful, even as the plot gets dumber and more outlandish.
There’s even a joke about the puppets – in one scene The Hood does a mind-control number on Brains, and Anthony Edwards begins jerking around like … well, a puppet on a string.
Look, it ain’t art. But young viewers will enjoy imagining themselves using the wacky gadgetry and saving the grown-ups. And yes, they did the same thing in “Spy Kids,” and it still works.
Of course, the old TV series is out on DVD, if you want to have that experience. Some love it. But don’t be surprised if you’re a little creeped out.
Philip Winchester (left), Dominic Colenso, Ben Torgersen, Lex Shrapnel and Brady Corbet in “Thunderbirds.”
Anthony Edwards and Soren Fulton in “Thunderbirds.”
“Thunderbirds” HHH
Good-humored fun: The old 1960s TV show about an international rescue team (played by marionettes) gets updated with human actors. It’s oriented toward kids, and on those terms it supplies lively, good-humored fun, and Ben Kingsley enjoys himself as the villain.
Rated: PG rating is for violence.
Now showing:
“Thunderbirds” HHH
Good-humored fun: The old 1960s TV show about an international rescue team (played by marionettes) gets updated with human actors. It’s oriented toward kids, and on those terms it supplies lively, good-humored fun, and Ben Kingsley enjoys himself as the villain.
Rated: PG rating is for violence.
Now showing: Alderwood, Everett Mall, Galaxy, Marysville, Pacific Place, Woodinville, Cascade.
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