I did see the original movie when I was a child, but it was so long ago, I don’t remember it well enough to compare the two.
The 1-liners were funny, the kids were believably otherworldly and who doesn’t like a good eye-full of the main actor, Dwayne Johnson?? Although I have to say, if my name was Dwayne, I’d probably continue calling myself the Rock even after leaving wrestling.
The thing I like and respect about D.J. is that he actually does have an ounce of acting ability, or at least the ability to draw you in sufficiently to the story line. He’s not as wooden and artificial as some former athletes who tried to make the crossover (cough, cough, Shaq).
The bottom line was it was a good movie for family night with enough humor to keep the adults engaged and plenty of action to impress the younger audience, without much real violence.