Kids and their families will have some comedic martial arts action to enjoy this summer when 20th Century Fox’s ALIENS IN THE ATTIC arrives in theaters on July 31. A sneak preview reveals one of the film’s highlights, an alien gadget that turns grandma into a martial arts dynamo.
What makes the gimmick at least mildly funny for me is that the grandma doing wire-fu is Doris Roberts, a prolific 78-year-old character actress from hit TV series EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND and REMINGTON STEEL. She is practically the last person I would ever expect to see doing wire-fu. Of course, GOLDEN GIRLS star Betty White would have been even better but then she is pushing 90. Getting tossed around by a wire crew at that age might not be such a good idea.
In ALIENS IN THE ATTIC, a family heads to their vacation home in Maine for a relaxing stay but discover that the house is already occupied by one friendly alien and his no-so-friendly alien companions. It’s up to the kids to defend their home and their planet.
A fight choreographer isn’t listed in the credits on IMDb but Rex Reddick and Paul Shapcott are credited as stunt coordinators. Shapcott previously worked on THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN and UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS.
Kung fu-fighting grannies are not a new concept. A few years ago the Hong Kong dramedy KUNG FU MASTER IS MY GRANDMA came out to reveal the not-so-convincing fighting application of tai chi. Then there is SHAOLIN GRANDMA, an awkward spoof of producer Stephen Chow’s SHAOLIN GIRL that’s coming to DVD in the U.S. on July 7 courtesy of Well Go USA.
I’m partial to action director Yuen Cheung-yan’s portrayal of a fighting granny in Yuen Woo-ping’s screwball kung fu comedy classic SHAOLIN DRUNKARD.
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