So entertaining that there should be some kind of law passed against it, InnerSpace is a magnificently engaging example of top-drawer family entertainment, directed with charm, with, humour and imaginative verve by Joe Dante; despite Gremlins arguably being his most iconic and popular film, InnerSpace may very well be his finest hour. In the 1980's, Dante made some wildly enjoyable movies including Gremlins and its sequel, Explorers, The 'burbs and The Howling; usually state-of-the-art yet delightfully old-fashioned and nostalgic charming, thrilling, marvellously referential to older movies (I'd say Dante did this better than nearly any other director), and with very imaginative story-lines filled with quirky characters, surreal humour and generous lashings of excitement. It's no surprise that Steven Spielberg often had a hand in the making of many of his films, though Dante infuses his own offbeat style to the proceedings; Dante's got a agreeable sentimental streak, but he's also got an anarchic one too, something that would reach full crazy fruition with Gremlins 2.<br /><br />Anyway, back to InnerSpace, which is a 1980's update of the Fantastic Voyage scenario, in which a man is miniaturised and injected into the body of another man; Lieutenant Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid) is the pilot agreeing be shrunk down to near-invisible proportions and then injected into the body of a rabbit, only for the experiment to be interrupted by evil rival scientists who want the all-important microchips necessary for miniaturisation. Somehow, Pendleton finds himself injected into hypochondriac supermarket clerk Jack Putter (Martin Short), whose life is a mess and has been instructed by his doctor to take it very easy, and to avoid excitement at all costs; bad news for Jack, great news for us. Pendleton manages to make audio contact with Jack from inside of him, and together they try and save Pendleton before his air supply runs out. Meanwhile, other characters start to get involved with the action, from Pendleton's ex girlfriend Lydia (Meg Ryan) to the mysterious Cowboy, the lethal Mr. Igoe (a man with a detachable hand that can be replaced with guns, white-hot flame throwers and something slightly more pleasurable as briefly glimpsed in one hilariously risqué sight gag) and the evil Mr. Scrimshaw, a shrewd businessman who wants the microchips to sell to the highest bidder.<br /><br />I'm a big fan of 1980's blockbusters, especially irreverent, imaginative fare like GhostBusters, Back to the Future, etc, not to mention masterworks such as Spielberg's early classics; in today's era of bigger, bigger and not quite better spectacle, the 1980's equivalent of the big summer movies look more and more like a Second Golden Age of Entertainment than ever before, with lots of films that haven't dated thanks to an abundance of great ideas, freshness, with, great genre performances and a healthy blend of natural, human character and fantastic special and visual effects. These days, blockbusters are too big, too empty and too superficially monumental, making them agreeable things to consume along with your popcorn at the cinema but proving to be hollow experiences when experienced on the small screen or even on a repeat viewing at the cinema. Of course, there are exceptions, especially Sam Raimi's delightful Spider-Man movies, but for me, the late 70's and 1980's was where it all worked best.<br /><br />It's difficult to find a purely entertaining movie that not only has no flaws whatsoever, but whose virtues are almost consistently wonderful, but InnerSpace might be the one; Dennis Quaid never quite made it as a big A-list star, but here's he wonderfully likable, despite of (actually, maybe because of) his cockiness and smart attitude, and he manages to register a consistent strong presence throughout the film, even though he spends most of the time trapped in his tiny ship, thanks to his performance and his excellent chemistry with Martin Short, who never quite hit the jackpot in another film quite the way he does here. Here, he's absolutely hilarious; wound up, stressed, understandably amazed by just how insane this predicament he's stumbled into is (at first, quite realistically, he thinks he's losing his mind, maybe even possessed). Meg Ryan is also very charming and engaging as Lydia (very cute too, in the days before she milked said cuteness to disagreeable levels in her 90's films), who tags along for the ride but doesn't get let in on the whole truth of the story for the most part. As the villains, Kevin McCarthy (a Dante favourite) is brilliantly funny as Scrimshaw, while Fiona Lewis is very good as his man-eating deputy sidekick. As Mr. Igoe, Vernon Wells, a.k.a, The Campiest Villain Ever (as seen in Commando), manages to be genuinely chilling and scary for the second and last time in his career as a bad guy (the first was Mad Max 2), while Robert Picardo is painfully funny as the Cowboy; on an added note, his method of seducing women in nightclubs using an imaginary lasso does NOT work in real life. Not that I've tried, of course. Great comic support comes from Henry Gibson as Jack's boss at work, and Wendy Schaal as Jack's confused and selfish co-worker.<br /><br />The action is wonderfully staged and sometimes quite suspenseful, especially Mr. Igoe's pursuit of the syringe early on in the film, a hilarious moment where Jack is flying off of the back doors of a van and a terrifically exciting encounter with a freshly shrunken Mr. Igoe and Pendleton above Jack's acid-raging stomach. The special effects are marvellous, especially when the film takes us inside Jack's body; these moments are often breathtaking, while's there's even a lovely moment when Pendleton temporarily finds himself inside Lydia and he sees their unborn child. The film is also hilarious, with countless great gags, a near-perfect balance between humour and excitement. By the end, you'll be left breathless, and yet it still manages to conclude on a delightful open note.<br /><br />InnerSpace is one of my all-time favourite movies and one I still enjoy thoroughly every time I watch it.