The most famous cartoon character in the world celebrated his first public appearance in 1928. In the cartoon classic classic classic classic classic, “Steamboat Willie” enriched with many slapstick interludes, Micky Maus, at that time still in black and white, went on a ride on a river steamer on a long journey and collected numerous farm animals as a freight. The cheerfully whistling rodent with the characteristic giant ears and the squeaky voice became the mascot of the mighty Disney group. But even that could not prevent the copyright from inevitating this first version of the cult figure after 95 years. That means: Since 2024, every Micky Mouse – at least in her first appearance – can use freely without having to ask for permission at the mice house. And that is exactly what producer, author and leading actor Simon Phillips did directly – and already put the first teaser right on New Year's Day “The Mouse Trap“With Micky Mouse as a mass murderer online. The clip went viral and reached an audience of millions.
If you know all of this, it is quite brazen when filmmaker Jamie Bailey (“Deinfluencer”) right at the beginning of “The Mouse Trap” in an ironic and much too long running text, which reminds of “Star Wars” and thus another Disney franchise, indicates his failed contact attempts with the entertainment giant. He emphasizes several times that Disney has nothing to do with his dark Mickey Mouse interpretation. In any case, every viewer should immediately be clear that the billion dollar group would voluntarily perform his favorite figure in such a bloody nor in such a cheap film. However, this point of view remains the best gag in an uninspired and dreary slasher, which was shortened into Ottawa, Canada for eight days in the summer of 2023.
Not even Disney can prevent Micky Mouse from becoming a killer!
Alex (Sophie Mcintosh) and Joyna (Madeline Kelman) work together in a spacious arcade with Arcade Games and fair attractions. At the end of the day, however, it is far from the fact that her boss Tim Collins (Simon Phillips) promises the friends a proper surcharge if they take care of a group that has rented for the evening at short notice. Surprisingly, it turns out that it is Alex 'friends who want to celebrate their upcoming 21st birthday with her. But the joy and the party fun only briefly, because in the closed arcade a killer with Mickey-Maus-Mask is around …
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PU der Bär was the first Disney figure in 2022 to be used in the public. The British filmmaker Rhys Frake Waterfield had apparently only waited to reinterpret the fairy tale from the hundred and morning forest as a dark slasher spectacle for adults: Even if the slaughter staged with visibly narrow budget between real blood streams, “Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey” became international Surprise hit, with successor productions such as “Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare” and the “Pinocchio: Unstruct” that will soon be started, an entire film universe is being knitted. Under similar conditions, Jamie Bailey and Simon Phillips now have the same in mind, as in an after-credit scene is not very subtly teased: Only the horror thriller “The Mouse Trap”, which is made with obviously little money, largely misses the expected artificial blood.
Come the first 15 minutes in which a projection of “Steamboat Willie“The spirit of Micky Maus drives to the Arcade manager Tim, still exciting, is the order of the time afterwards. A handful of interchangeable teenage cliché figures are introduced and can initially toast-which brings any narrative pace to a standstill. Alex 'nerdy childhood friend Marcus (Callum Sywyk) is still the most bearable between horny sex-obsessed, her male counterpart, imaginary gothic zicke and drum-drum-blop-blown ice hockey player. Even if-at least in the flat mixed German synchronization-it is half half-worn recite the self-ironic “I will come back” dialogue from “Scream” (1996). One of several tired meta-gags about teen slasher in the 80s and 90s, of which screenwriter Simon Phillips claims to be a big fan.
After series killers with a PU mask, a serial killer with a Mickey mask is now coming-hopefully there will be more creative ideas to capitalize on the copyright-free Disney figures …
Jamie Bailey's instructions mostly seem to be on “is bored!” Having limited, because such scenes in which nothing happens to something simply happens at all, dominates the noticeably tedious length of tanned slasher full of plot holes. At some point, smartphones are collected-however, there is no real motivation for content except for a certain “retro feeling”. Doof only if you have to call the police. And the teleporting Mickey Mouse spirit only seems to be able to be captured by stroboscope flicker light (as by a film projector)-which at some point suddenly no longer works …
The killer behind the rigid Mickey Mouse mask from the 1960s is also very generic. Any characteristics such as the typical squeaky voice were also dispensed with due to fear of legal disputes (it is really only the Mickey from “Steamboat Willie” right-free, everything else that came to the figure later, is still subject to copyright). It is all the more disappointed that the murders associated with a somewhat (poorest) artificial use of the murders according to scheme f never get a self-ironic Disney painting. If you “abuse” the cute Disney icon in this way for a few rapidly deserved dollars, then please properly and with tastes!
Of course, hope dies last. But the chances that the already turned down sequel “The Mouse Trap: Welcome to the Mickeyverse”, in which Mickey's girlfriend Minnie will also be met with more energy, appears to us as very low.
Conclusion: This boring and tension-free 08/15 slasher fails across the board despite the funny premise. “The Mouse Trap” is a real film trap-not only for Disney fans who mature on the video store shelf, but also for horror fans who actually know very well what they get involved in here.