Howard The Duck

This is one of those films that really put a selection policy to the test. Despite the fact that George Lucas was the producer, Howard the Duck was a disaster at the boxoffice. Based on a comic strip, the story follows the misadventures of a duck who gets caught in a laser beam which transfers him from his living room to Earth. Once again on terra firma, Howard hooks up with an ingratiating punk singer (Lea Thompson), and together they battle the Dark Overlord for access to the machine which will return Howard to his native habitat. There are no concessions made to known scientific fact here; in fact, some of the more outrageous scenes wouldn't make it past a 3rd grader (as when the core of a nuclear reactor is exposed, and no one seems to be affected). Written and directed by the husband-wife team of Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz (who also gave us the dreadful Best Defense), Howard the Duck is badly written, gimmicky, embarrassingly juvenile, and ultimately flat-out boring. What's worse, there are numerous sexual references in what is ostensibly a film for kids. But whether kid or adult, Howard's the kind of obnoxious, pretentious, fatuous jerk you wouldn't want to spend 5 minutes with, let alone the small eternity it takes for this film to end. Not recommended.