Review: Mac and Me (1988)

I had absolutely no expectations going into this movie, I was merely inspired to watch it by overseeing a fellow student viewing a trailer in class. Firstly I'd like to say I was completely unaware of the stigma attached to this piece and atop of that (in which I'm ashamed to admit) was viewed before Steven Spielberg's E.T., with all this in mind I believe my viewing experience was possible improved tenfold, as I had no prior bias or bandwagon opinion to jump upon.
Mac and Me begins on what I can only assume is Mars, following a family of four (obviously puppet) aliens as they investigate a strange space probe landing on their planet, sequentially being sucked up by the machine and transported to the planet Earth. The first thing to note is that If you over analyse the special effects in this movie and compare them to the standards of today, off course you're going to come up disappointed, however take them as comedy and treat this piece as a B-movie and you'll reap some pretty funny rewards. 
As the film continues we watch as the alien family, now dazed and confused from their journey get separated, leaving Mac, the youngest of the family to survive on his own. After causing a traffic accident by colliding his obviously rubber body into a nearby car's windshield (hilarious), he takes it upon himself to hitch a ride on the backseat of a family's car. The human family whom are unaware of Macs existence arrive at their newly purchased property in Americaville and begin to settle in, Eric, the disabled lonely child of the family begins to suspect somethings a miss when he experiences electrical disturbances throughout his house, along with waking up to a full redecoration of his living room to imitate Mac's home planet. This is when Eric finally discovers Mac and we have to endure the loving, heart-felt relationship only a disabled boy and his alien could experience. That's pretty much the plot along with some cliché government guys trying to recapture Mac for evil experiments and Eric taking it upon himself to reunite Mac with his freaky anorexic family lost in the desert.

The scenes that will provide most enjoyment for those who allow themselves to derive guilty laughs from bad movies are when; Eric loses control of his chair, leaving him falling down a steep ravine to his imminent doom, the spontaneous random dance off at MacDonald's, the countless-shameless product placements throughout and finally the penultimate petrol station explosion scene which see's the formerly P.C alien family obliviously popping caps at local police authorities and gas pumps.



In conclusion I can completely understand why this movie is the target of so much abuse, everything Is incredibly amateur, plagiarised and predictable, however by no means am I suggesting that it's not enjoyable to watch, it's packed with charm, love and silly fun, in the end this is a children's movie and the magic it provided to kids is what counts, do you think it would have been an issue to young Timmy in the 80's if there was product placement and it was similar to E.T? No, get off your high horse and respect the fact that people can and did enjoy this film.