Popcorn & Coffee: Adventures In Babysitting

TV-G; 94 minutes; $19.99; Amazon

I'm sure many people cringe every time they hear the word "remake." In recent years, Hollywood has remade movie after movie, and almost all of them have been complete disasters.

Tonight, the Disney Channel will premiere their 100th original movie, titled Adventures In Babysitting, a remake of the 1987 classic comedy. The film will quickly arrive on DVD on June 28th. The only special features on the single-disc is Adventures In Outtakes - Watch these never-before-seen cast bloopers and laugh yourself silly! The DVD comes with a FREE Magnetic Photo Frame.

The remake centers on two high school seniors, Jenny Parker (played by Sabrina Carpenter) and Lola Perez (played by Sofia Carson), who accidentally switches cell phones while applying for a summer internship program. The girls are complete opposites of each other. Jenny is mature for her age, while Lola is free-spirited and never listens to the rules.

After receiving a call on Jenny's cell about a babysitting job, Lola poses as her and agrees to babysit Trey, Bobby and AJ Anderson. It seems like an easy way to make $20 an hour, but things go horribly wrong when the oldest kid, Trey, goes missing.

Jenny eventually figures out that her cell has been switched and heads over to the Anderson's house to retrieve it with the two kids, Katy and Emily Cooper, she is babysitting in tow. When Jenny realizes that Lola had lost Trey, she takes action and finds a few clues that pinpoints Trey's location. It seems he headed to the city to buy concert tickets at a pawn shop.

Jenny borrows the Anderson's car, dragging Lola and all the kids with her to big city to hunt for Trey. Sadly, things don't go as plan when the car gets towed away and two criminals are chasing after them.

Final Thoughts: I wasn't quite a six-year-old when the original Adventures In Babysitting was released in 1987. I have fond memories watching (and rewatching) the movie on VHS throughout my childhood, so I can understand why some people might have bad feelings towards a made-for-television remake.

Actually, the film is less than a remake and and more of a "reimagining." Some of the characters have the same last name as characters from the original, but all the first names have been changed. The main plot is slightly different. In the 1987 version, the babysitter dragged the kids to the city to help rescue her friend who was running away; while the remake centers on two babysitters, who are taking two different sets kids and taking to the city to retrieve one of the kids than ran off to a music concert. There are a few similarities, such as Sabrina Carpenter wearing a similar coat that Elisabeth Shue had on in the original, and both babysitters end up singing on stage (this version replaces the blues for rap music). Plus, some of the dialogue from the 1987 film is reused for the remake.

Prior to watching the DVD, I had to set aide all my nostalgic feelings for the original as I knew it would affect my review for the remake, and I just judged it for its own merits. Overall, Adventures In Babysitting is cute family-friendly comedy that will appeal to both kids an adults. Considering the movie was made-for-television, it's definitely better than I thought it would be. Yes, there are some predictable moments, but there are plenty of throwbacks to the 1987 film to make it enjoyable.