Blood Capsule #391

COOL WORLD (1992)

This isn't really a horror film, but it does fall within the parameters of "dark fantasy."  Honestly, I was just in a 90's mood.  I recently watched Ralph Bakshi's Fire and Ice, and it made me anxious to call up this curiosity.  Cool World was originally conceived as a horror ditty.  In the end, it metamorphosed into a darker strain of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?  That includes a sultry sexpot that gives Jessica Rabbit a run for her money.  If you'll pardon the pun, the rules and machinations of our 2D/3D blended universe are a bit inky.  A mad scientist in the "cool world" finds the nexus of reality whereupon doodles (cartoons) can cross over into the brick-and-mortar dimension and interact with noids (humans).  Brad Pitt plays Frank, a motorcycle enthusiast who is zapped to the "cool world" when he is involved in a deadly collision.  Cut to fifty years later.  Frank has adjusted to life amongst the doodles.  Everything is stable until an imprisoned artist taps into the toonscape and threatens life on Earth by copulating with the come-hither Holly Would.

You don't have sex with cartoons.  Everyone knows that.  Why, it's practically the proverb that anchors my existence.  The question is, does Cool World manage to marry live action with wacky animation?  For the most part, yeah.  Many of the backgrounds are downright ugly (too many bells and whistles, sometimes literally), but for 1992, the special effects are adequate.  The storyline attempts to juggle two main characters.  I liked Pitt, although Gabriel Byrne is hit-and-miss as Jack Deebs.  How did he gain access to art supplies in prison?  Needless to say, there are a few questions in desperate need of answers.  That hardly matters.  Cool World serves up a steady ration of screwball entertainment that doesn't do much to earn its PG-13 rating.  8-year-old Dom would have had a field day with it.  Recommended to fans of Kim Basinger in her prime.  I had a crush on her thanks to 1989's Batman.  Good Lord, this flick would have sent me over the edge.

Pairs well with Evil Toons.