Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Howard the Duck’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

The true magic of motion pictures, is that anything and everything we can dream up can and will come to life on the silver screen and this is a fact that has been reinforced by the power of computer generated imagery, and while we have seen wonders appear before our eyes because of this and practical effects for that matter, the end result isn't always perfect.

Sometimes the CGI is a little too CGI, or you can tell the actor is wearing a mask or worse yet...the effects draw your attention away from the story, making the whole thing forgettable through and through. But once in a great while, a strange and perfect storm occurs, where the special effects overshadow a quality film and because it feels like a forced spectacle, the film ends up being a bomb and regarded as a grand mistake, as was the case with 1986's...Howard the Duck.

Now, before you complete your eye roll over the fact that I just called Howard the Duck a quality film, hang on for a second, because it isn't a perfect movie by any means. There are some genuinely weird moments in this motion picture, in fact the one that instantly comes to mind is whether or not ol' Howard is going to get it on with Lea Thompson and while it's scenes like that and the over the top acting from Tim Robbins that tends to make all of us groan when watching this movie, there are some redeeming values to be found in this feature. 

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First and foremost, let's talk about the giant egg in the room, the special effects. While this flick is regarded as nothing more than a bloated effects film, there is actually some impressive work to be found here. They flat out created a fully functional Howard without the aid of computer graphics and well, the personality that the animatronics exude in this film give the character a life I don't recall noticing the first time I watched this film. Not to mention, the Dark Overlord turned out to be quite the impressive monster as well, especially when it came to the amount of details the effects team added to this disturbing creature.

But more importantly, having watched this film again recently on Blu Ray, I've come to realize that this movie is also a good old fashioned comic book adventure and it delivers through and through when it comes to that. We travel to exotic locales, take to the skies in a thrilling chase scene and all of this is inspired by John Barry's beautiful and haunting score and once you get past the silly and deep into the action this ends up being one fun motion picture through and through and I am truly coming to appreciate this film more and more as time goes on.

Regardless of the joy I've found in it however, this is one of those films that you either love or flat out hate, and I understand completely why some folks just cannot handle this motion picture. But, I am in the camp that firmly believes that this one deserves a second chance based on how unique it is, since let's be honest...we haven't seen a film or a story remotely resembling anything like Howard The Duck since its arrival, but it also deserves another shot due to the fact that in many ways, this was a comic book film released way ahead of its time. It's humor, its design and its wild premise would be incredibly successful today and since the closest thing we'll get to a new Howard story in the modern era is his cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy, it makes this movie worth a second look and I highly recommend that you do so.

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