Memories with "Kindergarten Cop"

 I revisited a classic and an old favourite of mine, “Kindergarten Cop”. Now sadly I haven‘t seen this movie in a long time, and when I reminisce on it all I can think of are the few lines. This concerns me that I only remember the few good parts and not the whole movie. Meaning this could possibly a bad movie and it’s just my fond memories that represent the whole movie. And after looking over the IMDB score, it has a rather low 5.8/10, scaring me thinking I might go in hating a movie that I loved my whole life. Read how much this movie lived up to my memories after the jump.



For the few that don’t remember or haven’t seen this rather unique movie, I’ll try to break this down for you. John Kimble (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is an undercover cop who has been tracking down a drug dealer for some time now. Finally when Crisp is in prison, Kimble has to go and find Crisp’s ex-wife to testify against him. Problem is that she’s disappeared and Kimble only knows the school she teaches at. Once Kimble and his partner O’Hara (Pamela Reed) get to the small city, the initial plan is for O’Hara to be the undercover police officer posing as a teacher. But all that goes down the drain when O’Hara is sick and Kimble has to take over. He can handle tough criminals but can he handle a bunch of 5 year olds?

SHUT UP!

I have always considered this to be a ‘babysitter’ movie. Where a tough guy has to take care of kids, and the kids get the better of him. But movies such as “The Pacifier” and “The Tooth Fairy” aren’t always the best; they lack a certain je ne sais quoi. The missing link might be that Arnold just does these comedy movies well. Maybe it is the cheesiness in him, or his facial expression. There is something that marries Arnold with comedies so well that we won’t understand. Such as why would bananas and a peanut butter sandwich work so deliciously?

I'm Detective John Kimble you idiot!

The meat of this movie is certainly the hilarity that ensues with Kimble and his kids. Most of these kids have a personality of their own and a few stick out as being the odd, crazy ones. Emma sticks out the most, she was my favourite kid. So damn adorable and when she tries to stick up to Kimble and fails so hard, all she wanted to be is a princess and not a policeman. And what I forgot about is how funny O’Hara is, she puts up a few lines that caught me off guard. She is a great support character, really shows of Kimble a bit more. Especially when she recommends Kimble to take a gun into the classroom after he thinks he can handle the pressure of 5 year olds.

 But what sandwiches the meat all in a neat package is the criminal back story that is presented in this movie. You only really see it during the beginning bits and the end for the conclusion. During the comedy bits, you sort of forget about it. The action scenes don’t really stand out, but they aren’t bad. They just felt very 90’s, take that what you will. And when Kimble goes in with a shotgun to the gang areas, he is still a badass. Maybe that is why the movie is so great, it marries decent action with fairly entertaining humour.

Kimble will do some weird things to shut the kids up.

In the end, I always have fun watching “Kindergarten Cop”. As cheesy and lame this movie can be, it turns out to be surprisingly funny and holds up the test of time. The key factor here is the smooth transition between crime scenes and the comedic parts. It satisfies the need to see Arnold blow shit up, him make funny one liners and him being goofy and wacky all at the same time. With a decent number of characters supporting him, including the kids, I was never bored and it brings up great memories I have with this movie. If you ever fear that watching this movie nowadays might ruin the movie, don’t be. It totally is a classic that will live on as the best ‘babysitter’ movie ever.