Small Soldiers

Joe Dante shoots and scores with this apocalyptically funny fantasy which crosses Toy Story and Dante's own Gremlins. A new line of action figures is programmed (with computer chips from the military) to "kick ass" just like in the commercials. These Elite Commandos, with names like Chip Hazard (voiced by Tommy Lee Jones), have one mission: to destroy the peace-loving Gorgonites, who have been programmed to "hide and lose." A misfit youth appropriates a shipment of the toys for his father's New Age toy store, and the titanic battle begins, extending from the store's aisles to the suburban streets. With the irreverence of Mad magazine, Dante loads his films with throwaway gags and in-jokes for film buffs. The Commandos, for example, are voiced by cast members of The Dirty Dozen, the Gorgonites by the creators of This is Spinal Tap. Dante does let his subversive comic instincts get the best of him and he overshoots his target audience. As in Gremlins, much of the mayhem may be too harrowing for younger viewers, and our young hero's climactic summit of an electrical pole to destroy the Commandos should definitely not be tried at home. Recommended. (K. Lee Benson)