A 90s Fever Dream
Watching Encino Man in 2026 feels like digging up your own backyard and finding a neon-colored time capsule filled with slap bracelets and Slurpee residue. It’s the movie that launched Brendan Fraser and cemented Pauly Shore as a cultural phenomenon for about fifteen minutes.
Fraser is the best part of the movie, hands down. His performance as Link is purely physical—lots of grunting, wide-eyed staring, and impressive stunts. He manages to be the most likable character in the film despite having zero dialogue. On the flip side, Sean Astin and Pauly Shore play two high schoolers who are so desperate for social status that they basically kidnap a primitive human to use as a prop for the prom.
"If you're edged 'cause I'm weazin' on your grindage, just chill."
If that quote makes sense to you, you’re the target audience for the nostalgia play. If it doesn't, you're going to spend half the movie wondering if Pauly Shore is speaking a foreign language. For modern kids, this isn't just old; it's a specific brand of '90s weirdness that doesn't have the timeless quality of something like Back to the Future.
It’s harmless enough for a family movie night if you want to show your kids what 'the juice' was, but don't be surprised if they start scrolling on their phones by the second act. It's a mid-tier comedy that survives mostly on the back of Brendan Fraser's undeniable charisma.
