I think this was a fine movie, and it was interesting to see the puppetry, 80s soundtrack, and so on, but the core story was pretty average. For someone very familiar with the hero's journey (I used to read a lot of fantasy novels as a kid), this movie had little new to offer. I don't have a problem with this tried-and-true story structure, but the movie just didn't do a particularly good job of executing it.
While the basic motivation for the plot (a wish gone awry, more or less) has good potential for a story, the goblin king seems a little too wooden for the setup to really be convincing. Does he actually want to keep the child, or is his real intention to give the heroine a test of character? It seems like the answer is neither. He repeatedly professes dismay at Sarah's progress, yet does little to stop her and seems to be strangely uninterested in what's happening. Bowie certainly looked the part but I think his uninflected portrayal failed to be compelling overall.
Another thing I thought was problematic was the lack of real threat in the story. Throughout the movie, the heroine encounters trials such as: getting lost, falling in a hole, and having to cross a bad-smelling swamp. I understand the movie was geared towards children, but I think the level of menace and dramatic tension could have been increased without making the movie too family-unfriendly. After all, kids already know fear. There are certainly things I fear as an adult, but nothing can equal my childhood terror at the thought of raccoons (don't laugh), terrible creatures of the darkness that invaded our yard to shatter our illusions of suburban security and raid our trash cans. But I digress. My point is, the challenges faced by the heroine seem pretty tame even by kids' movie standards.
The final abyss was especially weak. Rather than a climactic scene in which the heroine has to confront her own inner demons, she instead has to overcome... Escherian staircases? Then she struggles to remember a monologue (as the main antagonist waits patiently) and finally triumphs when she utters the last line: "You have no power over me". Well, that's all well and good, but it really could have been a lot better. (Even "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" had a more exciting climax, and in that story the main antagonist was inclement weather!)
Still, the movie had some good messages about responsibility and growing up, the power of friendship and kindness, and so on. And it was pretty imaginative. It's something I wouldn't mind my kids watching, if I ever have kids. All in all, it was pretty good -- just not great.
While the basic motivation for the plot (a wish gone awry, more or less) has good potential for a story, the goblin king seems a little too wooden for the setup to really be convincing. Does he actually want to keep the child, or is his real intention to give the heroine a test of character? It seems like the answer is neither. He repeatedly professes dismay at Sarah's progress, yet does little to stop her and seems to be strangely uninterested in what's happening. Bowie certainly looked the part but I think his uninflected portrayal failed to be compelling overall.
Another thing I thought was problematic was the lack of real threat in the story. Throughout the movie, the heroine encounters trials such as: getting lost, falling in a hole, and having to cross a bad-smelling swamp. I understand the movie was geared towards children, but I think the level of menace and dramatic tension could have been increased without making the movie too family-unfriendly. After all, kids already know fear. There are certainly things I fear as an adult, but nothing can equal my childhood terror at the thought of raccoons (don't laugh), terrible creatures of the darkness that invaded our yard to shatter our illusions of suburban security and raid our trash cans. But I digress. My point is, the challenges faced by the heroine seem pretty tame even by kids' movie standards.
The final abyss was especially weak. Rather than a climactic scene in which the heroine has to confront her own inner demons, she instead has to overcome... Escherian staircases? Then she struggles to remember a monologue (as the main antagonist waits patiently) and finally triumphs when she utters the last line: "You have no power over me". Well, that's all well and good, but it really could have been a lot better. (Even "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" had a more exciting climax, and in that story the main antagonist was inclement weather!)
Still, the movie had some good messages about responsibility and growing up, the power of friendship and kindness, and so on. And it was pretty imaginative. It's something I wouldn't mind my kids watching, if I ever have kids. All in all, it was pretty good -- just not great.