MovieBob Reviews: DOWNSIZING (2017)

[@loonachan]

When I first saw previews for this movie I thought "neat concept, but what are they going to do with it?" Turns out very little. There's a reason why these "neat concept" movies always end up with plots about conspiracy or secrets because just building a neat world isn't enough.

[@user-nv9vn8fm1d]

hentropy, Try 'Colossal' (2016)! Neat concept. Great execution.

[@christianhansen2569]

Hehehe “very little”

[@themagictheatre2965]

Eh Colossal destroyed my suspension of disbelief in the third act. Completely ruined the movie for me.

[@SKyrim190]

I though they were going to have a more obvious parallel between people that chose to downsize and the act of diminishing oneself to avoid problems or conflicts in life. I think it had potential as a drama, but it fell absolutely flat...

[@not_a_can]

Bob you killed me with the edit

[@JaredPoirier]

Not a Can I don't think he edits the vids, bobs a busy dood

[@Kickimanjaro]

I only noticed half-way through what was happening, gave me a good laugh

[@not_a_can]

Im sure at the very least he thought of it with his editor

[@QwertyCaesar]

Not a Can Reminds me of his Super 8 review

[@KeeveBigSis]

it`s the Pym Particle outbreak! :3

[@Haysey_Draws]

I thought i was going mad halfway through "bob's getting smaller...isn't he?!" Good review, well edited!

[@SmaMan]

At first I just thought his chroma key was misaligned again. Well played, Bob.

[@ShardReaper]

I was driving as I listened to this and thought my headphones were crapping out. Great job, Bob.

[@alialmuhanna4938]

Jason Hayes I noticed it when the pitch of his voice started changing. And nice end with the “big” disappointment

[@Grizabeebles]

All I want to know is if he'll start the next review full-size or slowly change back to normal.

[@user-ju6zx3rm8d]

i thought it was annoying and too obvious

[@troperhghar9898]

I'll admit I had this playing in the background while I was working and when bob started shrinking my first thought was that something was wrong with my speaker

[@famousseumas8077]

Any else want a tiny moviebob action figure?

[@marikotrue3488]

Too late for 12/25/2017, how about a Kickstarter for 2018?

[@logandials]

He already is an action figure! The stupid glasses and the fact that his arms only articulate enough to be completely at his side or making some tiny gesture proves it

[@mlmaronilla]

Perfect since he is merchandising now.

[@Raygathex]

You know i was hoping for more of a pulpy scifi twist of having to suddenly deal with animals and bugs at that size but its sad to see it was just political crap

[@TheTruthKiwi]

They probably thought that'd been done already in the Honey, I Shrunk The Kids movies but yeah, I was waiting for a bird to come down and spice things up a bit.

[@HannibalHanslaughter]

tiny angry Bob is weirdly adorable

[@jima2985]

The movie didn't appeal to me to begin with, so this review just reinforced that. But the edit you did was freaking hilarious!

[@andymatheson82]

my first thought was , "omg, i hoe no cats get in that leisure land place" cats would kill them all

[@clubslaben]

I thought it was really good. I didn't know much about the movie other than a few short trailers. It really took me off guard where it went which was a refreshing change

[@ImVeryOriginal]

This reminds me of the 1987 Polish comedy "Kingsajz", which had kind of an exactly reverse premise: dwarves, living in drawer units and forming a society satirizing late socialist Poland, discover a way to enlarge themselves and live among humans, but of course their authoritarian government wants to prevent its citizens from breaking out into the "big world". That was a fun little film and the visual effects hold up remarkably well today (think Terry Gilliam in 80's Eastern Europe).

[@19Szabolcs91]

I should check this out, sounds interesting.

[@nifralo2752]

How's they get away with that in a communist regime? I thought all movies in the eastern Europe were all propaganda films about the 5 years plans and the evil capitalists ect

[@malsiaosi8756]

First half was good. Second half was boring asf because it turned into a drama that was just too personal, making you forget how small they were. They should have thrown so many obvious ideas in that people obviously wanted like bugs

[@FromPillartoPost]

I saw this at an advanced screening and thought Chau’s character was borderline racist. The rest of the theater was laughing every time she opened her mouth and I kept asking myself “should we be laughing at this?” Hell at times it felt like I was watching the Owner of the City Wok from South Park, that’s how over the top she plays it folks.

[@jinpei05]

From Pillar to Post In the context of the story it makes sense. But yeah, it just comes off as problematic.

[@FromPillartoPost]

jinpei05 in 2017 with the way society is today it’s not going to be long before the “this character is racist “ flag flies trust me

[@pablocayetano7255]

That's a pretty authentic Vietnamese accent actually

[@sentientmlem727]

From Pillar to Post so it was racist for a Vietnamese refuge coming to a bew country to sound like she was a Vietnamese refuge coming to a new country?

[@FromPillartoPost]

Connor Raabe it is when she sounds like the guy from the City Wox in South Park

[@tab2457]

I think the trailers were misleading. It attracted people that where expecting a true comedy and where disappointed. It's not really a comedy it's more like a drama/comedy. It's very deep and philosophical in some aspects. If you have gone through a break up or have recently lost a love one, or if your trying to find your place in this world type of movie. I think if you know this going in you might appreciate this movie and even like it. I think time will be kind to this movie and people will appreciate it.

[@SueMeriah]

Well I'll take a raw breakup over boring myself to death with this fucking movie...

[@mannymarc24]

I concur! So many are unable to appreciate the metaphorical premise of how people are indoctrinated to views of life. Great fucking film!

[@jebes909090]

I found this movie incredibly depressing. Especially the last shot of the movie. What was up with that.

[@ageofdulltron2052]

Future cult classic right here, just saw it tonight. People get so pissy if something isn’t what they imagined. It’s basically the point of this movie! This reviewer is a wanker.

[@JimmyneutronwasokayIguess]

“It was a love you fuck” is one of the most hilariously badly conceived lines I’ve heard in a mainstream film. Im glad someone enjoyed it but how can I be emotionally invested in something this stupid

[@Bedinsis]

The shrinking was clever, the change of pitch in voice was just irritating.

[@Tillyard86]

How exactly, the joke wouldn't have worked without it.

[@Bedinsis]

...yes it would.

[@Tillyard86]

Bedinsis the whole idea of him being small doesn’t work if he doesn’t have that voice.

[@Bedinsis]

...yes it does. Just because a change of pitch is the usual cartoon signifier of someone being smaller doesn't mean that one has to use it.

[@Tillyard86]

Bedinsis did it ever occur to that maybe JUST MAYBE the very reason cartoons do that is BECAUSE the joke doesn’t work without it?

[@ritaofthelions]

How long did it take everyone to realize he was shrinking? I didn't even notice until his voice went chipmunk 😂

[@cooldbz12mach1padilla]

The trailer made it look like it was going to be a really fun movie. It was utter shit.

[@sentientmlem727]

cooldbz12 it actually made people think for a bit. I can understand why that doesn't appeal to people.

[@El_oh7199]

It's surprisingly bad for an Alexander Payne movie

[@eastsidereviews727]

This review might be better than the movie.

[@Tempo1337]

I DEMAND MORE TINY BOB REVIEWS. DEMAND.

[@danielattrell]

Ricky Partridge Ant-Man and the Wasp is coming out next year.

[@janushunyadi9612]

only if he gets squashed

[@madmanvarietyshow9605]

I hope the little people are called chipmunkians.

[@tallankaan3316]

Yes. This.

[@Marylandbrony]

Bob Chipmunkian.

the trailer actually gave me a Jurassic Park concept wipe... like the playing god part, manipulating with nature. kept waiting for giant mosquitoes and what not. (happy trailer - something had to go terribly wrong in the movie) so excited... but nothing happens! damn it, nothing that has anything necessarily to do with downsizing anyway :O total dissapointment ! :/ totally missed opportunity... (I got that it was all about the small things in life that matters... but still).

[@coronisk.1564]

if this movie had been a book, it would have been an amazing classic. There felt like there was about 50-70 minutes of script that just never got filmed. (Assuming this wasn’t adapted from a book)

[@gamingwildlife]

Didn't notice the "edit" until about halfway through. Well played.

[@SmaMan]

I thought it was suspect that none of the marketing in this movie focused on any semblance of plot it may have had... and just focused on the concept of "Oooh! Hey! What if an Apple-esque tech company did this thing where people could get smaller and transform their lives?!"

[@NickPiers]

About halfway through, it sounded like an episode of Extra Credits.

[@Jasonwolf1495]

Honestly this is a movie that just left me insanely confused with the advertising. Like I had a feeling it was gonna have a horror undertone. This thing just was weird to hear about because they don't make it clear what the point is.

[@BassBaseAce]

so I know it was an easy shot to take to shrink yourself down and pitch your voice up in the edit, but by the end of the video you were kinda tough to understand

[@jamesmallone]

I didn't have quite the same problem, but I had a problem with it nonetheless. This is yet another example of a gag Bob thought was really funny and on-point (and I see from the comments that quite a few people liked it, fair enough), but (for me) it's just annoying, goes on for too long, and distracts from the stuff he's saying which I would just listen to normally. See also "The Community", "PHRASING!", the unnessisary and distracting echo effect Bob put over the revived Game Overthinker voiceovers for a while, and almost every instance where Ivan talks to the camera instead of the Game Overthinker.

[@MellowCreamTV]

I thought it was gonna be a fun movie, but by the end of the movie I thought "Oh yeah, they shrank in this movie". The marketing suckered in people who thought it was gonna be a fun movie, when in reality it was "heavy" politics film with an out of nowhere end of the world plot.

[@headintheclouds926]

Ivan?!

[@hyperam4594]

Colin Louderback yes?

[@Ivanleon16]

Yes?

[@ivanbackfromthecardshop8093]

Yes

[@rkirsch264]

This movies was one of the worst I've ever seen. At one point he's in a mansion, next he's in an apartment. No explanation. The ending makes even less sense. Not a comedy , not a drama, just a really bad movie.

[@BassPlayerAvailable]

I think with a little more spent on production (Use a shotgun mic or a lapelle mic) and then editing (Audio inbetween jump cuts) you could rival some of the biggest movie reviewers on KZbin. Thanks for reviewing this

[@swordsman111982]

Wasn't this a Dilbert the cartoon episode?

[@GenericKen000]

Remember the lesson of Blood Diamond - a more authentic accent isn’t always a better accent.

[@annieo6290]

I was like why is his voice getting higher? 😂😂😂 good one bob

[@SuperWillHatch]

Dang, Bob has the same shrinking technology that the President from Rick & Morty has. And he fixed the clothes shrinking problem! Say hello to the Megagargantuans for us!

[@benj7911]

This movie was SERIOUSLY one of the worst movies I have ever seen. For anyone who is deciding to give it a chance or not, DONT. You would think by the trailers that it would be a fun movie with unique scenes showing off different aspects of being small like the big ants in honey I shrunk the kids, but it literally has NOTHING like that in the movie. In the trailer you see a large bottle of water which probably made you think "hmm thats funny,this movie looks fun!" , but that scene isn't even in the movie, and there is no other scenes with normal sized objects around the small people, literally none except 1 scene with a flower. The movie focuses on stupid social issues instead showing minorities outside the of the main town living in poverty and making matt damon feel bad about it. Thats literally it. Then the ending is just laughably bad and it ends leaving you asking why this was even made.

[@pftburchell5197]

Oh my god, I wasn’t expecting that. I love that edit. Still don’t get your video on Star Wars but I love you’re work.

[@ringostartheguineapig5783]

I was so disappointed in this movie because the director could have done SO MUCH MORE WITH IT. I think they could have left the 'world ending in 5 years' thing out of it. I think it should have focused mainly on the exploration of Luxury Land and also places beyond. They should have had a zoo with rabbits, lady bugs, spiders, guinea pigs...ect) there should have been way more reference to the 'bacteria in their stomaches' like maybe showing bacteria in their POV through a microscope on their level.... and basically I was so sad about how this movie was handled. I truly feel that if the movie was about Luxury Land and all the little people experiencing the world in a new POV and showing huge bugs and maybe some people venturing in a submarine type disney land under water to experience a giant world of fish and sharks and something goes terribly wrong for a bit like a sea turle crashes into them or something, but then everything gets settled. The movie started out how i had hoped but then somewhere between the lady who lost her leg in the tv box and the ghetto beyond Luxury Land it just sucked all my hopes dry.

[@joshuaprice3965]

Watching (or listening rather) to this while I had another tab open and I genuinely started to think my computer was having audio issues for a second there.

[@rikivip]

Joshua Price how do you have so many subscribers

[@VirtualMarmalade]

Oh look, it's the one where Bob turns into Ivan before our eyes.

[@J1P2K]

Nice trip shrinking yourself like that. I really wanted to see this, but after reading some reviews, and see that is over two hours long. No thanks, I'll just read the summary on wiki.

[@TheVampirePredator]

This movie was NOT a comedy. It was satire and social commentary.

[@Jonatron101]

Playing this in a background window I couldn't help but feel like we were slipping into Bob Circa 2008.

[@PHARAOHIC_CIS-HET]

When the movie is not giving a sermon, it's actually pretty good and heartfelt. Thankfully it doesn't sermonize much.

[@robstewartstewart98]

Somehow Im now expecting Spongebob to scream "oh nooo"

[@Leonemian]

Holy crap that could've been annoying, but it happened so slowly that I did a double take and then l literally broke down laughing and had to pause it. Nicely done, Bob.

[@RudieObias]

DOWNSIZING, unextraordinary upper middle class white man gets shrunk down and realizes there are poor people of color out there who also have complex thoughts and feelings. Needless to say, I hated this movie!

[@jfassettx123]

I didn't even notice that Bob was shrinking until he started sounding like Ivan the Intern.

[@stevemolloy2747]

Downsizing had a lot of potential, it felt like Disney should have instead made this film...very disappointing.

[@JaredPoirier]

Damn, I was pretty excited about the concept of this movie! I think I'll still see it.

[@brandchan]

At this point, I am even more curious about it.

[@RenaDeles]

Jared Poirier I was always planning to see this as a rental/borrow from the library, but yeah I'm still curious to see first hand now how they messed this up.

[@fieryphoenix2501]

I was waiting for a "dark" turn of events to this bright and sunny premise with the firs trailer at least but when I saw that they gave away the wife "twist" in the 2nd trailer immediately lost interest.

[@creamithmanning2632]

Yeah, the concept is SOOOOO GREAT. No problems with it whatsoever.

[@fishlikeyoio2198]

Imperial stats just watched the movie and really loved the story.Every movie doesn't have to be super hero or some alien attacking.

[@soundwave803]

Never underestimate the power of a good gimmick. Well played Bob. Well played.

[@ianyboo]

On this episode of 37 things you might have missed watching a movie Bob production eagle-eyed viewers will have noticed that Bob slowly gets smaller during the episode and his voice pitch goes up as a nod to the movie he is currently reviewing.

[@oddmott7653]

I wasn't expecting a visit from Ivan! XD

[@joshiewashe9486]

This is a movie for people that actually analyze movies. So I gave it a 7.5/10 very serious with small small humor

[@SCharlesDennicon]

When I realized that normal size characters could hear downsized characters as if they were just on the other side of the room, I thought "damn"... (IRL, wouldn't it be closer to what Bob does at the end of his video ?) and that was just one of the MAAAAANY moments I thought that, watching that POS movie.

[@cyanmanta]

I first saw the trailer and thought "this is either going to be amazing, or it's really going to suck." Then I saw the product placement in the trailer and thought "this is really going to suck."

[@BlargleWargle]

Congratulations, didn't even notice until the pitch-shifting started.

[@CodingtheRoad]

I couldn't get over the music playing in the background--

[@alnu8355]

Your puns and wordplay are on point in this one Bob!

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

Oh Bob, you missed the pun potential inherent in the line "Damon has kind-of a growth arc". Also, you gave away the fact that you're secretly Ivan the Intern. Fascinating concept, pity they couldn't come up with anything to do with it.

[@tommymartinelli6043]

This premise was "borrowed" heavily from the Dead Kenedys song, "SHRINK"

[@ArcMedicalResearch]

as some sort of weird subconscious aberration as Bob got smaller I swear his audio got quieter. I scrubbed around in the video to find out that no, that's just a quirk of my dumb brain

[@ShinigamiSparda]

Took me until about halfway through the video to realize he was shrinking.

[@muddlewait8844]

Wow. Did you have to slow down your delivery gradually as you performed to raise the pitch but keep the rhythm? Was math involved? Again... wow. Nice.

[@NotHPotter]

If none of them wind up getting lost up anyone's "cave of wonders", then why even approach this premise?

[@avalon629h]

All I know is that the studio marketed the crap out of this film. I got so tired of seeing constant youtube ads that i wasn't planning on seeing this anyway

[@Pretzil43]

Damn, I was hoping for this to be a feature length 'Black Mirror' episode... So much potential for brutal darkness.

[@Joratron666]

It genuinely took me a few minutes to realize he was shrinking XD

[@KoiPuff]

Spanglish was actually a deconstruction of the "Foreign Woman teaches man child to grow up" trope. Flor outright refuses to play that part and when she realizes that she and her daughter are getting sucked in she removes both of them from the situation. She even admits that she's fallen for Adam Sandler but chooses the solo road because she lives for her daughter and only her daughter. It's like you didn't even watch the movie or think about what was happening.

[@loonachan]

To be fair it's difficult to like a post-90s movie with Adam Sandler in it. I saw Spanglish and liked it okay, but whatever messaging it was going for was all over the place that it's not surprising people have different opinions of it.

[@Gentlemenpickleesq.]

The thing that really annoys me about this movie is what do they do if they run into a ant or a roach or a house centapide? Your tiny, alot of things could easily murder you with no effort.

[@TheIcemanModdeler]

He should of shrunk while the clothes remained the same like in Rick and Morty.

[@Betta66]

*Implies that Downsizing might not be as bad as Justice League* *Gives Downsizing the same rating as Justice League* So, which is it?

[@blakchristianbale]

Betta66 when you're limited to only eight different ratings there's bound to be a tonne of variance within them.

[@HazzardousEco]

FINALLY! I can have my very own MovieBob action figure!

[@trekjudas]

Birds and cats would have a banquet with tiny people!

[@seamusburke639]

Why does Kristen Wiig keep getting cast as humorless starter wives in film? They even parody this in Walk Hard! She deserves so much more.

[@benjiarehart2878]

Great review. I agree with some of your points. I actually enjoyed the movie, and it's message, but I can see how many would be disappointed. I think, most of the negative feedback that they are receiving from this movie, lies in the hands, of its marketing team. It really did feel like a bait, and switch. The trailers gave the expectation, that the viewer was paying to see a brilliant comedy, and yes, if taking that avenue, the possibilities would have been unlimited. That's the main problem I have with this movie. It would be like going in to see Saving Private Ryan, and come to find out it's a comedy. If you haven't seen the movie, whether you like it, or not, might be in your expectations. If you are looking for unthought provoking laughs, stay clear, if you like deep satires, then you won't be disappointed. They just should have either marketed it differently, or explored the possibilities of making it a blockbuster comedy. Having so many SNL alumuni in the previews, didn't help their quest either, or maybe they are actually marketing geniuses. 3 stars, out of 5, because of the bait, and switch, rug pulling trick.

[@connorhennessey1316]

Is it weird that it took me 3 minutes to realize Bob was shrinking himself. Because that's how long it took.

[@lukeGGlee]

This movie could have been worlds better with a more obvious moral message...however I totally loved the latter half when the Vietnamese dissident lightened it up.

[@johnathanblade1]

👍🏾 for Bob playing with his presentation!

[@AnnCatsanndra]

Welcome back, Ivan!

[@TheHeroOfMobius]

I loved Bob’s impression of my expectations for this movie.

[@TalonSilvercloud]

The shrinking gag was great. Well played.

[@87arranprestwich]

He may shrink but his heads still massive

[@SirPaladin]

Why is Bob slowly turning into Ivan?

[@AlexReynard]

I don't know how anyone was disappointed by this. I got some serious 'head completely up its ass' vibes from the trailer.

[@papersamurai00]

Such a shame. The premise sounds like it could have had a similar look on evolving tech and the world as GATICA or the I Robot stories, but it just comes down to a "Stop being complacent and appreciate life and other people's plights" story? Don't we have enough of those every year?

[@Thraeryn]

I feel like something changed as the video progressed.

[@johnclavis]

Not to mention that the idea was ripped off from a Kurt Vonnegut book from decades ago.

[@lexslate2476]

What can you do with a shrunken sailor? What can you do with a shrunken sailor? What can you do with a shrunken sailor? Male a half-assed movie!

[@ClaudineBJimdar-RoweCV]

Perfect example of the green deal and economical collapse. There you go.

[@Jayfive276]

And I shall call him...Mini-Bob!

[@Rych3rInLyf3]

Ivan? Is that you? Is the Game Overthinker coming back?

[@CalvinthyAwesome]

Oh! Hi Ivan, good to see you again buddy

[@2MuchSwag4Funzies]

I never saw the trailer before seeing it so maybe that's why I'm not so harsh on this movie, but I think what Alexander did was phenomenal. Except the controversy just doesn't work if your audience is mislead by the trailer. By this, I mean that if the controversy Alexander wanted was to make the leisure class people watch this with wrong expectations to bait them into an ending telling them they're shit people for being what they are, then it did just that, but lended it's reviews to angry closed minded people, hence it's success. I applaud Alexander for that, it takes real balls. But I do still believe that a film is only enough for one real story and this film feels like I watched 4 and never got an ending to any of them. He really set the tone from the start but he shifts that western tone into a rather international cinema tone which taps into the indie film realm, and just seems lost with all these shifts in plot direction. I would still recommend it because it is just so different. It definitely challenges the expectations of the audience and the way cinema should be watched. Very controversial in that sense. 6.9/10

[@orangeadventure975]

It figures that the same month that Election came out on Criterion, Alexander Payne would release his first big disappointment. Ordinarily i love his movies, Election has a special place in my heart.

[@katierose1893]

It felt like a black mirror episode. I enjoyed it but yes they could have explored the concept more and focused less on the Vietnamese woman. She did make me laugh in the end.

[@WillScura]

I'll be honest, I kept waiting for you to turn into Ivan.

[@smjaiteh]

I'm starting to think Bob really likes using that voice effect.

[@Draven0seven]

How does this fit in the Robotech lore?

[@malvanlondon8683]

I thought it was a very good and thoughtful satirical drama - with occasional humorous moments that made me laugh. Not everyone is hating on this movie. As usual, go see it for yourself folks - and make up your own minds.

[@nexuswain]

The voice pitching is insufferable. Please don't do anything like this ever again.