Small Soldiers
1998 · Directed by Joe Dante
Original language: English
- comedy
- adventure
- fantasy
- science fiction
- action
The story
When missile technology is used to enhance toy action figures, the toys soon begin to take their battle programming too seriously.
What it’s like
Bright, saturated suburban daylight gives way to the sickly green-blue glow of computer monitors and the cold fluorescence of a toy warehouse, with the palette sliding from cheerful primary colours toward gunmetal and camouflage as the film goes on. Joe Dante's camera moves with a restless, cartoonish energy: quick whip pans, crowded frames packed with gadgets and cluttered shelves, and gleeful staging of toy-eye-level chaos that feels like a live-action cousin of Looney Tunes. The score is brassy and percussive, leaning into military snare and synth stings, and the sound design makes the action figures feel physically present, all clicks, whirs and tinny battle cries. The vibe is mischievous, slapstick and knowingly satirical, a Saturday-afternoon matinee with a sly edge about corporate greed and war toys. It suits a lazy weekend afternoon, a family movie night, or a nostalgic rewatch. The pacing is brisk and the emotional register light, following a nervous teenager and a shy neighbour's daughter through an arc of growing up and standing up for what's right. Violence is frequent but cartoonish: explosions, toys gleefully mowing down humans, and mild peril, with no gore and little that lingers. It's for people who want a playful, slightly subversive creature feature that's noisy, funny and easy to enjoy.
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