Casper: A Spirited Beginning

"Holy smokes, Bat..." Wait, wrong franchise. Casper, Stinkie, Stretch, and Fatso are back in this direct-to-video prequel to the 1995 theatrical release Casper, and for true chills, get this: they've brought Steve Guttenberg with them. Let me just lay the pieces out on the old film chess board here, and see if you can guess the moves: Guttenberg (who seems to have been consigned to the kiddie film actor's bin) plays a real estate developer, who a) wants to tear down Applegate Mansion (home of the ghosts) and b) has no time for his son, Chris (Brendon Ryan Barrett), who is c) bummed, but partially consoled by his newfound friend Casper, a fellow outcast who is e) trying to buddy up with the ghosts in--ta-da!--Applegate Mansion. Pretty basic stuff. Casper: A Spirited Beginning's problem--besides being lazily written, acted, and directed--is the fact that is has no real villain. The original Casper's Cathy Moriarty/Eric Idle combo offered a fun, but suitably malevolent, antagonist for Casper and Christina Ricci. This one's got three vanilla-flavored school bullies, who might as well have had the word "stereotype" stamped on their foreheads. A smart move on Fox's part not to release this in theatres, this is an optional purchase at best. (R. Pitman)