Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
Modern Stone Age family the Flintstones hit the big screen in this live-action version of the classic cartoon. Fred helps Barney adopt a child. Barney sees an opportunity to repay him when Slate Mining tests its employees to find a new executive. But no good deed goes unpunished.
The Flintstones translates the beloved Hanna-Barbera cartoon into live-action with impressive production design and costume work that faithfully recreates the stone-age suburban world, earning above-average marks for cinematography. The novelty of seeing the cartoon world realized in physical, practical form with dinosaur appliances and period-accurate absurdity gives it some distinction, though the story itself is a thin corporate-scheming plot padded with visual gags. The acting leans heavily into caricature — John Goodman commits admirably as Fred but the broader ensemble is uneven, and Elizabeth Taylor and Halle Berry are largely wasted. The plot is predictable and the resolution feels rushed and unearned, failing to satisfy on a narrative level.