Labyrinth!

The Jim Henson operation was riding high in 1986 when Labyrinth hit the big screens. This was actually their second big fantasy film (if you don't count The Muppets), following the critical acclaim of The Dark Crystal. This time Jim Henson wanted to blend puppets and people in a believable way in an unbelievable story. We have a modern fairy tale with many of the classic elements, a story about a young woman coming into her adulthood and resisting the rigors of that adulthood. That friction creates stress in her home and eventually danger for her baby half-brother, a child she loves yet also resents. 

The young woman is portrayed by Jennifer Connelly in a very early role. The late and great David Bowie is the star of this vehicle, lending his peculiar talents to a role as the Goblin King. Other than the baby brother played by artists Brian Froud's young son, the rest of the cast are puppets of various and sundry kind. I like much if not most of the movie a great deal, but it gets too cute by half in places. 

The Labyrinth is a failed opportunity. That failure was due to the fact that movies like this need to make money and to do that they need a happy ending. While one could have logically given Labyrinth a satisfying ending, it wasn't what one might have deemed necessarily happy. The young girl has an exotic experience in which she must learn to put away her childhood and grasp the powers and responsibilities of adulthood. She has been resistant for a host of reasons, not the least of which is unresolved grief for her mother, and jealousy of her little brother. She feels shoved out of the warm tidy nest and wants to stay. But that cannot be, and through trial and tribulation she learns better. 

That's a pretty good solution to a fairy tale narrative, but it doesn't ring with huzzahs. To get that Henson sticks on an abominable ending which to some degree undermines the hard-won lessons of the film. He wanted everyone to smile as they left the theater, and he should have trusted his work to simply fulfill them. Because of this last-minute lack of confidence in his narrative and in his audience, he allows the story to feel incomplete. 

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The Day The Earth Stood Still Again!

I'm a fan of the original 1951 movie. See this post for more on that. For whatever reason, I've not ever gone to the trouble to see the 2008 remake. Likely that's just my basic laziness taking hold, and possibly the tepid reviews had something to do with it, but mostly I'm guessing I just didn't want to see a movie that might ruin the grandeur of the original Michael Rennie classic.

Well I found it for super cheap yesterday and couldn't resist any longer. I had to know what had been done.

It turns out it's an okay movie by and large. It lacks the epic scale I'd expected frankly. The story seems very parochial given the sweep of the action. The story kept me involved but there were some issues. Here's the good and the bad.

BADDISH:

1. The visuals lively but frankly I had a hard time deciphering the action all the time, especially at the beginning. That's possibly due to my idiotically small screen, but I think clarity was a problem. Special effects can be as sparkly as they want to be, but they must communicate the action effectively or they're a waste of time.

2. The government response seems too bellicose. I expect them to defend the homeland, but treating the alien like a terrorist was a bit too on the nose now, let alone in 2008.

3. Too little Gort action. I didn't immediately get the true sense of his size, but when it was established, we needed some cool scenes with him striding about causing trouble. They seemed to want to keep him implacable and that's good, but that doesn't require immobility. When Gort's true nature is revealed, it's a neat twist but perhaps a bit more could've been done to cue it coming up.

4. The ecological update was okay with me. I've read that Klaatu was not given a speech at the end because it was thought that modern audiences wouldn't tolerate such things. Sheesh, that's a pity if true, but I reject it. This movie if anything is a bit too subtle with its themes at times and a little old-fashioned preaching might've helped tie it together a bit more as the end is a shade underwhelming.

5. The little kid was seriously annoying.

GOODISH:

1. Keanu Reeves plays a good alien. His wooden acting is perfect in this role.

2. Jennifer Connelly looked absolutely gorgeous in the role of Helen. She always comes across as reserved but very smart,perfect for this character. Her motivations seemed a bit forced at times, but overall she was dandy.

3. Gort looked fantastic. More Gort required.

Overall I'd give this remake a sturdy "B". It's worth another look for sure.


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