Flashback Review: Elf

Hello fellow movie goers from across the globe. Today’s review is about an elf, (played by Will Ferrell) who discovers he’s an actual human being and he embarks on a journey to meet his father for the first time. The Basic Premise I’m referring to is from the movie, Elf.

Elf was released in 2003. (same year Finding Nemo came out) It received positive reviews from critics/movie goers, and it was also a commercial success at the box office.

The following review doesn’t feature any SPOILERS. You’re okay to read this article.

Nice & Naughty Aspects

Nice: Will Ferrell did a laugh out loud performance as Buddy The Elf. The naive manchild raised by elves, who gets into a “Fish Out Of Water” scenario.

Other Cast Members such as James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Zooey Deschanel, Ed Asner, (Carl Fredrickson from Up) Kyle Gass, (half of the duo from Tenacious D) Andy Richter, (Conan O’ Brien’s sidekick) Faizon Love, (Big Worm from Friday) & Bob Newhart, all did a decent job on their respective performances.

Fun Fact: Will Ferrell & Mary Steenburgen, also worked on Step Brothers. This time, Mary played Will’s onscreen mother.

During the opening titles, the name of a production company called, “Guy Walks Into A Bar,” indicates that the movie is gonna be filled with funny moments.

The Humor managed to make my belly ache with laughter, in a good way. Buddy’s lines are very memorable to quote in front of your friends such as “I like smiling, smiling is my favorite.”

Cinematography looked normal without any technical issues present throughout.

Forced Perspective was used to edit Will’s height for The North Pole scenes. This technique was also used in Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.

Stop Motion Animation was used to bring creatures from The North Pole to life, for example, a snowman named, Leon, resembles the narrator from Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. I’ll give this pro an Extra Point for honoring Stop Motion Animated Christmas Specials.

One character concocts a unique looking breakfast. Guess who it is?

Ray’s Pizza Box is shown or mentioned in one scene. Five Years Later, the same pizza box also appeared in Iron Man. Could this mean Elf is the first installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? (MCU for short)

I think The Best Line in this movie is, “You sit on a throne of lies!”

Jon Faverau, Happy Hogan himself from the MCU makes a cameo appearance as both Mr. Narwhal, and a doctor. He also did a great job directing.

Peter Billingsley, (Ralphie from A Christmas Story) appears as one of Santa’s elves.

Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister from Game Of Thrones) makes a brief appearance. Perhaps my favorite scene is when he unleashes his inner Lannister. If you know what I’m talking about. It deserves Bonus Points for making me laugh so hard.

One scene features a Lego version of The Empire State Building. Eleven years later, Will went on to voice Lord Business, the main villain from The Lego Movie.

The Climax pays tribute to a scene from The Lord Of The Rings. The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King also came out the exact same year as Elf. It went on to win an Academy Award for “Best Picture.”

The Elf’s made up curse word was also pretty funny.

Naughty: How the actual heck did baby Buddy manage to get out of his crib? Did Tommy from Rugrats offered him a screwdriver to escape his crib offscreen or did Buddy used Goku’s (from Dragon Ball Z) Instant Transmission to teleport offscreen?

One character brings up Dr. Seuss. EGAD! That horrible Mike Myers film came out the same month Elf came out. I’ll give this con a pass, because one of them didn’t mentioned The Cat In The Hat! If they did, it’ll bring back terrible memories! Ugh!

Product Placement featuring certain brands including, Chanel, Coca-Cola, Sony, Pop-Tarts, & Hershey’s. I’ll let this con slide, because I couldn’t find any brand to shove down my throat.

The Final Verdict: A-

In my opinion, I think Elf is one of the best Christmas movies of all time. I still watch this movie every December as a holiday tradition. If you have nothing else to do during Christmas month, I highly recommend this picture by gathering your family members by spending time together. Like every other Christmas movie or TV special, Elf airs on television every December, so don’t forget to give it a watch!

There was gonna be a sequel to Elf, but Will turned down a $29 million dollar deal to reprise his role as Buddy. He stated that he wanted to try out future projects. It’s too bad will never get to see Buddy’s further adventures.