Labyrinth

Running Time: 101 minutes

Media: DVD

I've had to think long and hard about this review, mainly because this review is dedicated to my niece, Ashleigh, who adores this movie... But I have to admit, I have my reservations about this flick... Granted, it stars a 16 year-old Jennifer Connelly, with whom I had a major crush on back then, (hey, I was ten back then, what can I say?) and granted, it was one of her first movies, and granted it has Jim Henson's puppets in place... But that's kinda where the fun stops...

Connelly's portrayal of Sarah seems a little reminiscent of a little princess type who always seem to get her way until her father married someone new... It's assumed from the movie that the mother must have passed on some time back but that Sarah is still not happy about having a step-mother, nor a new half-brother called Toby, with whom she unknowingly manages to get kidnapped by Jareth, the Goblin King, played by singer David Bowie... And it's now up to Sarah to make her way through Jareth's labyrinth in order to reach his castle and rescue her baby brother before he becomes a goblin himself.

Although David Bowie is a talented and handsome man, er... goblin... er... yeah, whatever... His performance, falls a little flat when playing off the character of Sarah... It's almost like there's a missing element between these two that without it, doesn't quite mesh them together... Bowie seems to act well with Henson's puppets incredibly well, as though he were a guest on an episode of Sesame Street... This along with some somewhat dis-jointed song cues within the film as well as some rather... "revealing" ballerina tights or equestrian pants Bowie wears, and you're left feeling a bit uncomfortable...

There is a scene with some almost romantic element which I think was a bit confronting to me, but I guess I tend to analyze things a fair bit... But given the almost near seductive quality that a 39 year-old Bowie had on a 16 year-old Connelly in this scene, I have some entitlement to this opinion... The balance just seems a bit off, despite how charismatic Mr Bowie can be...

Regardless, the movie has a few areas where I had myself repeating lines, like those of a large horned behemoth called Ludo who has a lot of friends who just happen to be rocks... Henson has done a great job with this as he had with Fraggle Rock and The Dark Crystal with his amazing direction and puppetry... Though this time, it's the human characters are the ones that seem to fall short... And as a result, while Labyrinth is still a wonderful movie, the acting by the puppets seems to outweigh in strength than those performances by Bowie and Connelly, and thus this film is awarded 3½ stars...

Hook

Running Time: 144 minutes

Media: DVD

I bought this DVD some time last week and made it an objective to see this movie as soon as I could... I sat through it, rather enjoying it, but I was blown away at how this story line managed to stretch for almost two-and-a-half hours...

The premise of this movie is that Peter Pan (Robin Williams) grows up, falling in love with Wendy's grand-daughter, eventually getting married and having two kids, and a cushy job in mergers and acquisitions... Peter Pan, now known as Peter Banning eventually forgets who he is, or rather, was, and when his kids get kidnapped by Captain James Hook, played by Dustin Hoffman... He has to find his way back to Never Land with the aid of Tinkerbell (Julia Roberts) and not only find his kids, but also the person he lost along the way, himself.

What amazes me is that this film seems shorter than it really is, in retrospect, I'm not sure how they did it to be honest... But then again, given it's directed by Steven Spielberg it becomes a little easier to comprehend how such a feat is possible...

The transformation from a total nigel that Williams's character starts off as Peter Banning, to something a little more suited to his playfulness as Peter Pan is enjoyable to watch. Hoffman's portrayal of Hook is pleasant at first, but then becomes a little over the top as the movie progresses... Cameos pad the movie here and there with Gwyneth Paltrow and Phil Collins, and the performances by Banning's kids are kinda ho-hum. Most of the enjoyment from the film either comes from Williams and his interaction with Hoffman or Williams and his interaction with the Lost Boys...

The movie overall kinda drones on and on, and yet is enjoyable at the same time... This is confusing for one to process, seeing that the movie is both enjoyable and yet long-winded... So, while I did enjoy Hook considerably, I am still inclined to award the movie 3½ stars.