Good Boys Review

Finally got around to watching this after hearing a majority of positive reviews. Though it doesn't venture into any unknown territories, Good Boys is a solid comedy.

Starting off with my positives, the trio of boys, Max, Lucas, and Thor, were all fun to watch for the film's 89 minute run time. All three actors were solid for child-actors; Jacob Tremblay was the stand-out as Max. I felt that director, Gene Stupnitsky, showed some great direction in his directorial debut. There were quite a few scenes that I felt would not work if they weren't shot/edited like they were. I also felt that Good Boys had really good cinematography for a comedy. There were some great scenes in the first act, however, I felt that the comedy lost its bite in the following acts. The film hinges on the humor of preteen boys thinking they know it all even though they are severely wrong about most things. I think it works well most of the time.

Obviously, Good Boys is going to be compared to Super Bad. I think it is an extremely fair comparison considering it's essentially Super Bad lite. I feel that the plot comes too close to Super Bad if we're being honest. I'd probably rate this film in the 3.5-4/5 range, but the unoriginality plot-wise brings it down.

Going into my negatives, my biggest one, other than the aforementioned Super Bad similarity, has to be the antagonists. The boys are constantly being antagonized by two teenage girls, Hannah and Lily. I personally found their characters to be unbearable to watch. They are extremely annoying throughout the film's runtime. The reasoning behind their constant following of the boys is extremely weak. I also thought that the film goes on too long as well. There's like three points in which this film could have ended.

In conclusion, Good Boys is a solid comedy with some good child performances. The generic plot, as well as the similarities to Super Bad, hold this film back, however.

6.5/10