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    Labyrinth

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    In retrospect I should have seen it coming, but when I went to check out “Labyrinth”, it was packed. Most of the audience members were there to pay homage to David Bowie, who passed away on January 10th, or were there to revisit an old favourite. I’m not a music person. I’m a film person. I also hold no nostalgia for this Jim Henson musical adventure; I just see everything I can get my hands on. So from that perspective, how does it fare?

    Fifteen-year-old Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connelly) is furious when she is stuck babysitting her infant half-brother Toby. When she wishes that someone would take him off her hands, she’s shocked to see Toby taken away. Jareth, the Goblin King (David Bowie, whose pants leave little to the imagination), has taken the child away. Unless Sarah can make her way through Jareth’s labyrinth in just 13 hours, Toby will belong to the goblins.

    “Labyrinth” is a much lighter adventure than Henson’s previous “Dark Crystal”. It’s also substantially better. Everything you liked about the 1982 film is here: the magic, the strange creatures, the bizarre settings and the boundless creativity, but you are more involved in this story because the characters are compelling and the cast is charismatic. Also, goblins of all shapes and sizes, something I’m partial to. Children will enjoy this adventure enormously. It’s bright and colourful with a lot of crazy and memorable creatures throughout. There’s the same kind of whimsy and surreal logic that was found when Lewis Carol brought us to Wonderland, with a clear direction for our heroine to go and a lot of memorable friends and foes for Sarah along the way, but plenty that’s unpredictable, or even illogical but in a way that’s more cheeky than maddening. There’s a nice mix of very silly situations, including a swamp that smells like farts because the pools… well I think you can imagine what is going on there. I also enjoyed the inclusion of a few legitimately dire situations. Not too frightening that little ones would actually be scared (like those mind-wipe sequences from “The Dark Crystal” would) but enough to show that the stakes are real. No two scenes are alike, meaning at least a half dozen of them make a compelling case to be your favourite.

    The special effects are good for the time, with a few appearing notably dated. For the most case the film holds up remarkably well. I attribute the overall evergreen-ness to the puppetry and costume work. Henson’s effects have always been of the highest quality and even 29 years later, characters like Hoggle (voiced by Brian Henson), Ludo (voiced by Ron Mueck) or Sir Didymus (Voiced by David Shaughnessy) still carry the same charm they did the first time this picture rolled into theatres. The illusion is convincing. The songs also stand very strong. Trying to tell you about the delivery or the lyrics would be pointless as it’s so much easier and rewarding to simply take a peak at the soundtrack. It’s worth the effort. I could have done without the Bowie-free number featuring the feathered Firey’s however. I found them annoying and was glad to see them quickly come and go.

    I’m going to recommend “Labyrinth” more strongly than “The Dark Crystal” (which I hate to refer to over and over, but the comparison is inescapable) I wouldn’t call this film a masterpiece though. The story is nice, but it’s also very safe. The story was meant for children and I once again find myself thinking that it’s enjoyable, but nothing you would revisit often unless you are a) the target demographic (about 14 or under) b) a teenage girl who finds herself watching some of Bowie’s musical numbers on a loop, and not just for the music or c) you grew up with it and have seen it a thousand times, to the point where you can recite the lines by heart. My rating is not for any of those groups. I’m not indoctrinated in the cult of “Labyrinth” but I still enjoyed it and I know there are some out there who have not experienced it yet and who will wonder if it’s one of those cult films that you won’t get at all unless you’re already “in there”. I say you can enjoy “Labyrinth” without being pre-programmed to so and that there’s a chance that under the right circumstances it could become a new favourite of yours. (Theatrical version on the big screen, January 7, 2016)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  9.2.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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