Encino Man (1992) Movie Review

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing pretty well for a rainy Thursday. I'm back for a nostalgic movie review today. I watched Encino Man this morning as it's on Disney+ and my friends are reviewing it on the VHS Club Podcast tonight. Not to mention I'd never seen it before. So, I thought I'd write a quick review of it on here. No period specific POV for this review, just me writing about a movie from 1992 that I enjoyed. Let's get into it.

Encino Man is such a stupid movie, and I love it. This is sort of the kind of thing that I would've rented as a teenager in the early to mid 2000s, but it never came to my attention for some reason. I definitely wouldn't've been allowed to watch it before 1999, even though it's nowhere near as raunchy as I thought it would be. Which actually surprised me. It feels like a Disney movie, which makes sense since Disney did release this movie through its Hollywood Pictures label. But that's what interests me so much. It wasn't raunchy compared to something like American Pie.

I love the cast. This is Brendan Fraser at his peak. Going into the movie, I was afraid it was going to feel too similar to George of the Jungle except with Pauly Shore and Sean Astin instead of Leslie Mann and Thomas Haden Church, but, no, it did not feel that way at all. Although I'm sure when George of the Jungle came out people compared it to Encino Man, because of course they did. Brendan and Sean are the only two actors in this movie that I'm super familiar with their work, having seen them in tons of movies and shows. Megan Ward, who plays Robyn Sweeney in this movie, appeared on Friends, NCIS, Boston Legal, and 7th Heaven, all in episodes that I saw when they aired, or in reruns in the case of Friends. Mariette Hartley, who plays Sean Astin's mom in this movie, actually appeared in the Star Trek episode, "All Our Yesterdays" in the third season, and I think I saw her in an episode of NCIS as well back in the 2000s. 

Of course I know Pauly Shore as the voice of Bobby, Max and PJ's friend in A Goofy Movie, Ke Huy Quan from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, and Robin Tunney from Empire Records. Everyone else I've seen in an episode of a show or in another movie. So that was pretty cool.

My favourite scene in the movie is during the prom when Matt, played by Michael DeLuise, tries to expose Link as a Caveman, but the entire school just accepts him as such, completely humiliating Matt in the process. I love that scene because I love it when a bully gets his or her comeuppence at the end of a movie. I also loved the dynamic between Dave (Astin) and Stoney (Shore). You can tell they're best friends and that Stoney is doing his best to keep Dave grounded, understanding that neither of them will be popular at their school. The part I don't understand is when Dave and Stoney are having their argument near the end of the movie and Dave accuses Stoney of making Dave do all the work in helping Link acclimate to the 20th Century. We barely saw Dave do anything to help Link. That was Stoney for the vast majority of the movie.

I like Stoney. He's a great character. He's chill, fun, and understands things that Dave never gives him credit for understanding. I also like Robyn. She doesn't do a whole lot in the movie, but, I think she would've made a great love interest for Stoney. Don't get me wrong, Sean Astin is great in this movie, but, his character is too desperate to be popular and to have his classmates like him. In a way he's like Matt in that regard. Matt's even worse though.

I think what endears me to this movie more is the fact that, even though critics hated it, the audience loved it, and it ended up being a box office success. Which is impressive considering this was the same year that Batman Returns, Aladdin, Home Alone 2, Kuffs, A League of Their Own, My Cousin Vinny, Beethoven, Rock-a-Doodle, FernGully, Alien 3, Sister Act and Wayne's World came out. Six of those movies made it into the top 10 highest grossing films of 1992. According to the movie's Wikipedia article, the producer of the movie credited Wayne's World for proving that a movie like Encino Man could be successful. Wayne's World came out three months before Encino Man. So that's cool.

Like I said earlier, this was my first time watching this movie. I was five and a half years old when it came out in theaters, and so even if they'd known about it, I highly doubt my parents would've let me watch it at almost 6 years old. Of course, because they'd never heard of it, and nobody else I knew ever talked about it, I didn't know this movie even existed. But then, a few months ago, when Brendan Fraser was doing press for Rental Family, I watched a video where he went through some of his favourite roles, and Encino Man came up and I thought it looked intriguing. So, I looked up where it might be streaming, and I saw that it's on Disney+ and decided I would watch it at some point. Well, then, when the VHS Club posted what they were going to be covering on the show this week, I double checked to make sure it was still on Disney+ and it is, so I decided that now was a good time to watch it.

I really did not know what to expect with this movie. Comedies are hit or miss with me, and knowing that this is a comedy, I was afraid I wouldn't like it. Thank goodness I did like it, because it is a great movie. 

Overall this was a fun movie. It isn't the greatest movie of all time, but it's fun. I also appreciated the movie's runtime too. It clocks in at 88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes). It's definitely Rental Recommendations worthy, so keep your eye out for that sometime in the future. 

Alright my friends, that's going to be it for me for today. I'll be back on Saturday for this week's Rental Recommendations post. Until then, have a great rest of your day and I will talk to you all later. Peace out!