My Review of "If Looks Could Kill"

If Looks Could Kill is a young adult comedy that came out back in 1991. I loved this movie back in the day and it's kind of a guilty pleasure to revisit it every so often. It's not the best of movies but it's got enough kookiness to keep me entertained from start to finish.

The movie starts out with a graduation ceremony. Our lead character, Michael Corben, is about to graduate high school. The problem is he didn't receive enough credits to graduate. It was nice of the school to allow him to participate in the ceremonies with the rest of his year. He has to make up for a French credit that he never got.

Fortunately for Michael, the French class is going on a trip to France for the summer. Michael's dad reluctantly agrees to let his son go to France to make up for the credit. It looks like Michael has a horseshoe stuck up his butt or something. This is where the fun comparisons to Ferris Bueller come into play. The guy is always lucky and it's hilarious how he keeps getting away with things.

While Michael is going through all these problems at home there are other concerns in Europe. An evil man named Augustus is trying to become the new king of Europe. His methods are interesting and I guess a little ahead of its time. Augustus wants to unite the European countries for a sort of European union where they would have one currency. Who knew this would eventually happen in real life. Except in this movie he wants his face on all of the legal tender.

Various secret agents have been trying to thwart Augustus' efforts but they all eventually fail. This time the American's have one secret weapon by the code name, Michael Corben, to finally take him down. You can probably already figure out what's going to happen next. Hey, I told you this movie isn't a great masterpiece or anything.

This movie is 90s camp at its best. Again, I love the Ferris Bueller feel of Michael's character. The antics he gets into and how he interacts with the French teacher is hilarious. Some people will be put off at some of the cheesiness of this but I really liked it. There's nice and simple fun that ages 13 and up will likely enjoy.

There is an element of nostalgia for me too. I remember loving this movie when I was a kid and this was probably what helps elevate the movie for me. You also kind of have to remember the time that this was taking place. There's a lot more fun you can have with the miscommunication between characters. People are still using land lines and newspapers to get their information across. So some of the fun situations were more believable back in those days. Well they still weren't but you'd give them a pass.

The characters are all played out really well. I loved the over exaggerations of each of the characters. This could very well have been a made for TV movie with a higher budget and I wouldn't argue with you. The French teacher in particular really had me in hysterics. She is both believable in the annoying teacher and the super teacher ready to protect everyone.

Overall, I loved this movie. It's a guilty pleasure that I keep coming back to whenever I can find it. It's something I think younger audiences will be able to enjoy even in this day in age. I have to give this one a 7.5 out of 10. For me it's a classic.