The Mouse Trap (2024)

The-Mouse-Trap-(2024)
The Mouse Trap (2024)

As far as dark reimaginings go, we’ve witnessed both Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey and its sequel, and a horror version of Bambi is rather forthcoming. The film that must be driving Disney to walk in the streets screaming hysterically is The Mouse Trap, however. More specifically, the awful idea of Mickey’s Mouse Trap, which I imagine even their lawyers thought was too much, turns Mickey, or someone in a ridiculous Halloween suit, into a bloodthirsty maniac instead of children’s entertainment that he is meant to be.

That is possible simply because Steamboat Willie, the first ever Mickey Mouse cartoon, has now entered the public domain. The consequence of that is now Mickie at least the version in that specific cartoon can be legally depicted by other filmmakers. This is signaled by a Yes, Star Wars style of a text crawl.

The real movie takes place several weeks later on Wednesday 13th March at 2000 hours when Detectives Cole and Marshal are seen interrogating a witness Rebecca who has been linked with a number of murders, the only survivor of all. As usual, in crime stories, the victim explains in advance what kind of piquant details the investigators would rather die than know. Of course, if witnesses are allowed to describe events.

Alex (Sophie McIntosh) Unfortunately for her, turns twenty-one when she is conducting a late shift at the Fun Haven arcade. Apparently, it has been rented out for some after-hours partying, and she and Jayna (Madeline Kelman, Skin Deep) have no choice but to work more hours than the rest of their colleagues. After breaking the news to them, Boss Mr Collins (Simon Phillips, Butchers, The Last Scout) decides to limit himself to his cabin where he can relax and watch Steamboat Willie. One thing is clear though, it is not going to end well.

From the executive producers, Jamie Bailey (This Was America, What Lurks Beneath) with the writing works of Phillips. The Mouse Trap makes its biggest mistake at the beginning and several times during the film when it interrupts itself to show the cops questioning Rebecca who seems to have information about things that no one in their right mind should have. Other than being a bit spoiling, the interruptions keep destroying the flow of the plot in what is meant to be a slasher version of the Usual Suspects.

Let’s not kid ourselves and say that the film has an engaging plot where the suspense taps on the viewer’s shoulders constantly. It is not as extraordinary as we expected since the killer teleports after the viewers think the identity of the killer is known. How does this happen? It happens when the killer teleports and starts panicking at a light flashing on them. Maybe, Mickey could be it . . . Then again, apart from that, it is almost a cookie-cutter slasher film where one could throw in a naked girl for good measure and some practical effects, mastering the art of basic, or at least decent, use of elements in off-screen deaths.

As for its plot, the only part that I appreciated was where the killer kills over six wannabe Miles Morales using VR goggles. And yet the ONLY gore we see comes from that huge monster. Everything else is unusually muted from the rest of the movie but sadly does not hold up as well in any of The Mouse Trap’s killings. There are some moments that had a lot of promise, but unfortunately, just average execution.

To be honest with you, I do wonder whether The Mouse Trap was somehow tampered with after it was finished editing. There are even several instances when the dialogue is obviously not in sync with the action. Did some of the story elements get more than a touch racist and had to be rewritten so the studios would not get sued? That would explain the very reason why the police station scenes are so many and so cheap. They needed the police scenes to explain what was left of the plot.

Be that as it may, The Mouse Trap is yet another film where a lot of energy went into rushing to be the first filmmaker to make a film about the character and little effort went into making the film itself. The only real benefit of watching this is to satisfy prurient interest. Next time the filmmakers can use lookup for a character whose copyright is gonna run out in a few years so that they can at least get a good script down.

For More Movies Like – The Mouse Trap (2024) – Visit on 123Movies

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top