Sketch

This year's "Big Brother" was the first time since I started watching that my favorite from the beginning got really far. Keanu was my dude from the moment he said he was a big Lord of the Rings fan. He was fun to watch because he was really good at competitions, but man, did he have bad instincts when dealing with people in the house. Oh well, anyways, let's talk about...

Sketch (2025)

I saw this movie without ever hearing of it before. My nephew had his birthday party at a local theater, and this was the movie. All I knew about it was the basic premise, and it was produced by "Angel Studios." In my 15 years of doing this, I never thought there would be a movie from that studio that I'd be able to review.

We meet a family, the father, Taylor, played by Tony Hale. You may recognize him as Buster Bluth from "Arrested Development." He is a widower and now he's trying to pick up the pieces by hiding them away, while raising his children, Jack and Amber. Amber is an aspiring artist, and she's the only one processing that their mother is gone. She does that by drawing monsters. That goes well enough until one particularly annoying boy is stabbed to death in one of the pictures. The boy sees it and immediately lets the teachers know. This is only the beginning, and the movie is already hitting on some heavy themes, especially for a kids' movie.

As an aside, I know it can make adults nervous, especially in the world we live in now, but scary drawings as kids aren't always a harbinger of destruction. I was never a very good artist. I couldn't really draw my way out of a plastic bag, but when I was in first grade, let's say the red marker got a workout. That wouldn't fly today, but I don't remember ever getting my parents called in or my parents telling me that I shouldn't color pictures where everyone is bleeding. I think I turned out OK. I mean, I have only been watching and reviewing horror movies for every October the past 15 years, and I published two horror novels, but other than that, I'm pretty OK!

Let's get back on track. The older brother, Jack, eventually stumbles upon a magic pond in the woods behind their house. Before he got there, he broke his phone and cut his hand after taking a spill. His phone falls into the water, and his hand goes in as well. When he stands up, his phone is fixed and his cut is gone.

One night, the younger sister, Amber, followed him out there, and in their disagreement, her sketchbook finds its way into the water. That's bad news because, as I mentioned earlier, this pond is magical. Unfortunately for them, and the rest of the town, because all the crazy monsters bent on murder leave the pages and go on to terrify the town. Oops! Now it's up to the kids and the annoying boy from earlier to stop the murderous drawings from taking over.

That's the plot in a nutshell, and let me tell you something, I loved this movie. This isn't being graded on a curve. I'm not saying this is a good movie for a kids' movie; I genuinely loved this movie. For starters, the monsters are very cool. Anything she drew them with is what they're made of. So if she drew them with markers, chalk or crayon, that's what they're physically made out of. It makes for fun moments where they have to fight each one in a different way. Plus, like when they're fighting the "eyeders" (arachnid eyeballs), they explode into a cloud of color. Visually, almost every single moment that you see one of the monsters is a treat for the eye.

I also have to commend the young cast. Jack and Amber are spot on. Each has their own ways of dealing with their grief, and you feel what they're feeling. They're asked to carry a lot of the emotional load, and they got me several times. When Jack finally breaks down from the weight of always trying to fix everything instead of dealing with his grief of losing his mother, it hits like a ton of bricks. This movie balances such depressing themes while still being laugh-out-loud funny and visually stunning is extremely impressive.

There's another standout character, Bowman. He was the annoying kid whom Amber drew getting impaled by a monster. I liked him a lot. When you first meet him, he's just a jerk who ruins everything. Through fate and an attack by a very large, sleepy monster, he ends up with Amber and Jack. He's a coward for the most part, abandoning everyone to save himself multiple times, but he eventually comes through for them. He has a big hero moment that's a lot of fun, and his boasts of single-handedly fighting off the "eyeders" are eye-rollingly hilarious. It's funny because we saw what happened, the characters saw what happened, but in Bowman's mind, he really believes the exaggerations, and he ends up being a very fun character.

Let me talk about my favorite scene, it's when they take on the monster that Amber drew impaing Bowman. It's at the magic pond. The baddie is drawing more monsters and tossing them in the drink to create more. This is going to sound silly, but that final fight had me smiling like no other movie since the first Avengers movie. It's just so cool. When Amber gets to the water, all the markers have dried out. Without any way to draw something to fight the baddie, she dips her arms in the water because earlier she had drawn tentacles on her arms, so when she emerges, she's battling with tentacles! It's so cool! Sadly, I can't do it justice, but it is a very cool final fight. All of the characters get their moment to shine, and each one is perfect for each character. I smiled, I laughed and even got a little misty when Jack took a closer look at his backpack.

Look, I've spent all this time in this review, and I haven't mentioned Tony Hale's, Taylor, and his exasperated sister/realtor (played by D'Arcy Carden from "The Good Place.") They're great because when the movie is on them, and not the kids, it doesn't miss a beat. Each of them does their best to understand what's happening, and despite the batshit insanity, each is quick to hop on board, and we don't waste time with either of them taking over; they both understand the kids are the best options to fix this, and they let them do what they need to do. Granted, it's not the best real-life advice, but it's a movie; real life isn't as fun.

I could go on gushing about this movie for pages. It's a super fun movie that tackles a very heavy theme, but doesn't drag you down or make light of it. The characters that get any time spent on them are great, the monsters are fun, the fight scenes are cool, and it takes your emotions for a ride. This may be a surprise... You ready for this?

10 Dr. Chainsaws!