The War with Grandpa [2020]

The War With Grandpa

The War with Grandpa is a funny but mostly pointless movie. It will leave you with a handful of laughs, and a lot of questions about what the talented cast was thinking when they signed on.


You can’t say that it’s great, or terrible. It has its moments, and it will entertain the kids for an hour and a half, which are clearly the intended audience. It’s not “Home Alone”, but it’s trying to be.

Thing is that the movie attempts to check all the boxes of a children’s comedy, but it really fails to make a connection. They are the shells of these archetypes without making them novel in any way. Sadly, I couldn’t help but cringe a bit watching Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken (both amazing actors) return to battle against a bunch of tweens. Plus, there are only so many times you can witness someone getting hit in the groin before it becomes tiresome.

So, what is it all about?

Sally’s (Uma Thurman) child Peter (Oakes Fegley) is upset that he must share his room with his grandfather (Robert De Niro). So, he decides to declare war in an attempt to get it back. “Home Alone” style.

Sound familiar? Because it is. We’ve seen De Niro before as the adventurous grandpa with the same physical comedy portrayed here. Though it was amusing to try to guess what De Niro or the grandson will try next, it also got very bland.

And a Robert De Niro movie should not be bland. Considering the talent in front of the camera, I wonder why the quality couldn’t have at least been punched up a bit.

The War With Grandpa – Trailer

Should you watch it?

It’s a fun little Saturday afternoon comedy movie. Nothing groundbreaking but definitely enjoyable.

Where can I watch it?

You can stream The War with Grandpa on Prime Video.

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