Mel Blanc and Alan Reed are most likely rolling over in their graves right now. It's possible that Joseph Barbera and William Hanna would be shocked. It's not that the Flintstones film Viva Rock Vegas, which "posthumously" credits the latter two as executive producers, would elicit such responses. Instead, it appears that the film lacks all of the non-material characteristics that made the 1960s series so famous.
This instalment of Bedrock's favourite two families predates their relatives, as it is a prequel to both the 1994 film and the television series. Fred (Mark Addy) and Barney (Stephen Baldwin) are two young bachelors who have nothing planned for the rest of their lives. "We get to spend the rest of our lives working in a rock quarry – who says dreams don't come true?" exclaims Barney. On the other hand, Fred is desperate for a companion and recognizes that he will have to take action because "it's not like anything will just fall out of the sky, land right in front of you, and change your whole life". Given that the film lacks original comedy, you can probably guess what happens after Fred finishes the statement above.
Gazoo (Alan Cumming) is a teeny-tiny alien who is temporarily exiled from his home planet and sent to Earth to study human mating rituals. As a result, various jokes and an embarrassing scene in a film aimed at America's youngest moviegoers. It's also ironic that such a subplot appears in a movie co-starring Kristen Johnston (Wilma), an actress who rose to prominence for her role in the television show "3rd Rock from the Sun" – a show with a plot that's all too similar to this one.
Wilma and Betty (Jane Krakowski) sit opposite Fred and Barney and are genuinely opposed. Wilma is the quintessential poor-little-rich girl, battling peer pressure to marry Chip Rockefeller (Thomas Gibson); she is a member of the upper crust, despite her heart's desire to live in the wild Bedrock Valley, which her mansion overlooks. It turns out that Rockefeller is even more sleazy than Wilma believes, with his sole motivation for luring her being that he needs her fortune to pay off some mob debts. In the meantime, he has his two "favourite made guys", Rocko (Danny Woodburn) and Rocko (Tony Longo), on his tail. He'll "be sleeping with the tunasaurus" if he doesn't marry Wilma by a fast-approaching deadline.
On the other hand, Betty is a single waitress who lives in a modest apartment and wears a constant grin. She is fantastic and hip, and she not only takes Wilma under her wing, but she also agrees to a date with Fred, despite his pickup line consisting solely of incomprehensible grunts. Barney joins them at the carnival to make it a double date, and by the end of the night, the couples have switched, Dino has been born, and Gazoo has been viciously attacked on a Ferris wheel.
There are far too many parallels between Fred and Dude Lebowski from The Big Lebowski to go unnoticed, and far too many to be what Hanna and Barbera had in mind. Yes, they invented Fred's famous two-toe bowling technique, but they didn't intend for him to grow up to be the chubby jerk he is now. Perhaps this could be overlooked, though it would be difficult if the film dared to remove its training wheels and ride on its own instead of paying tribute to the original Flintstones couple in a mid-film montage that serves only to remind the audience of more enjoyable entertainment.
Despite all of Viva Rock Vegas flaws, I found a tear streaming down my cheek just before the credits rolled. I was perplexed about how this could be until it occurred that I would never get my 90 minutes back.
