The 2019Child’s Playremake has taken a lot of heat for how some things went down behind the scenes, but it was largely praised as a film itself. It took a story that most people would know, especially those in the horror movie, and changed things up a lot. However, the plot isn’t really as original as some might think.
1988’sChild’s Playis a purely supernatural story. A young boy is gifted a doll, which happens to be possessed by the evil soul of a serial killer. And thus,the iconic villain of Chuckythe killer doll is born. The remake of course kept the general concept of a killer doll in their story, but the lore is completely different. The villain inChild’s Play2019 is a doll named Buddi who is evil due to AI technology gone wrong. This seems like a modern take on the story, and certainly different from the original, but it’s remarkably similar to a late 1990s classic.
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Joe Dante’s 1998 filmSmall Soldiersalso revolves around AI gone wrong, causing toys to wreak havoc and cause terror.Child’s Playis arguably a better-made film, and their intentions are very different, but their general plot outlines seem to be one and the same. This means that even thoughChild’s Playdelivered when it came to changing up its source material, it’s not all that original of a story. For being as old as it is,Small Soldiersstill holds up fairly well in terms of its pacing, its message,and even its cast.
The film follows an adolescent boy who works for his dad’s toy shop. One day he signs off on a shipment of some state-of-the-art soldier action figures, and their alien enemies, against his father’s will. He soon learns that these toys are far more advanced than anything he’s seen before. Unfortunately, the threat of violence and destruction looms when the toy soldiers take things way too far in an attempt to eliminate their enemy. Director ofSmall SoldiersJoe Dante is best known for his work in the horror genre, with classics likeGremlinsandPiranhaunder his belt. This movie certainly has the samequirky, B-movie style, feel to it and while critics were mixed upon initial release there is definitely aSmall Soldiersfanbase out there.
The message of the film seems to touch on a lot of themes like consumerism, and the explosion of the home technology market. It also, in a way, feels like a bit of a parody ofToy Story. These themes are still really relevant in modern society, despite this movie coming out over 20 years ago, and that’s part of the reason it holds up as well as it does. Of course,Child’s Playdoesn’t seem to intentionally touch on those themes at all and it isa straight-up slasher moviewhileSmall Soldiersis a family-friendly picture. It’s one of the main distinctions between the two films.
Another element ofSmall Soldiersthat, maybe to the surprise of some, holds up really well is how it looks. Dante has said before that, while the original intention was to use practical effects with Stan Winston puppets, the actual film is about one-third puppet and two-thirds CGI. CGI from that time period is notoriously awful compared to today’s standards, so most would likely expect this film to look terrible. While it’s not perfect, it’s far from bad, and even thecheesier effects are really quite endearing. The use of technology in a film that seems to be a commentary on reliance on technology is kind of neat, and some of the stunts the little figures get up to are just so much fun.
One thing that bothSmall SoldiersandChild’s Play2019 indulge in, is a bit of stunt casting. The cast ofSmall Soldiersespecially is incredibly stacked. In front of the camera, the film features people like a pre-Spider-ManKirsten Dunst, Jay Mohr and David Cross, Denis Leary, and the last on-screen role of Phil Hartman. In terms of voice acting, the film features Tommy Lee Jones, Frank Langella, Bruce Dern, Christopher Guest, Christina Ricci, and Sarah Michelle Gellar just to name a few. While the cast isn’t quite as extensive inChild’s Play, the name behind the Buddi doll isa big one in Mark Hamill. The actor has received so much recognition for not only his work inStar Warsbut as a professional voice actor, and this is a big aid to the film.
NeitherSmall SoldiersnorChild’s Playis perfect, to say the least, but they’re both really enjoyable. In terms of whetherChild’s Playwas an intentional ripoff of the ’90s classic is of course unknown, but it’s unlikely. This is just a pretty simple plot that can go in quite a few directions and work just as well if done properly.Despite the very similar plots, the tones of these films couldn’t really be more different and they both stand on their own.
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