Movie Review: Gulliver's Travels
Jan. 15th, 2011 06:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tellytubby101Final Rating: 3 out of 10.
Quick Summary: Based off the book of the same name by Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, is meant to be a thrilling adventure of discovering far off worlds--except an adaption from the perspective of a modern man.
I should admit a small part of the draw of the movie was Catherine Tate's appearance (because she was my favourite Doctor's companion as Donna Noble in Doctor Who). Then I saw her role was nominal and utterly pointless, really.
The ads looked awful and tacky, and yes, the movie delivered that. It was a terrible adaptation.
It focuses mainly on the trip to Lilliput [land of the tiny people], unfaithful to the original descriptions (I felt). There were many plot holes with how the situation was handled (opposed to the book). Things like how much a giant could eat and other basic living details were lavished over with irrational answers. BLARGHY.
There is a very, very brief allusion to Brobdingnag [land of the giants]. The movie completely failed to explain it and the whole scene was unneccessary to the plot. It's not a true adaptation. Whoever wrote the screenplay clearly were more concerned about humor (which was mild at best) over plot.
I'm saddened that the floating island of Laputa and the country of the Houyhnhnms [horses] was left out. They were some of my favourite, and honestly most intriguing, moments. But admittedly, very few adaptations can get all of them in. Though the ones that can't normally hold true to the ones they do manage to squeeze in. This didn't. At all.
I'm quite angry over how poorly this story was handled. Really. The books are a philosophical sattire about humanity. This movie was... ARGH. Mildly coarse humor, a bit for honor, with a generic romantic sub-plot thrown in. Maybe I'm very harsh because I liked canon. I don't know.
Then there was the acting. Which occasionally hurt my brain. Or perhaps that was the best they could do with the painful script they had.
Jack Black, I feel, must sing and/or play air guitar in every movie he's in. He did not play Gulliver. He played himself. Watch any other of Jack Black's films and you see the same character over and over. I'm so tired.
The mini-series adaption was far greater, I feel. If you must watch only one adaptation, this one is the one I recommend.
All in all, this sucked.
Quick Summary: Based off the book of the same name by Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, is meant to be a thrilling adventure of discovering far off worlds--except an adaption from the perspective of a modern man.
I should admit a small part of the draw of the movie was Catherine Tate's appearance (because she was my favourite Doctor's companion as Donna Noble in Doctor Who). Then I saw her role was nominal and utterly pointless, really.
The ads looked awful and tacky, and yes, the movie delivered that. It was a terrible adaptation.
It focuses mainly on the trip to Lilliput [land of the tiny people], unfaithful to the original descriptions (I felt). There were many plot holes with how the situation was handled (opposed to the book). Things like how much a giant could eat and other basic living details were lavished over with irrational answers. BLARGHY.
There is a very, very brief allusion to Brobdingnag [land of the giants]. The movie completely failed to explain it and the whole scene was unneccessary to the plot. It's not a true adaptation. Whoever wrote the screenplay clearly were more concerned about humor (which was mild at best) over plot.
I'm saddened that the floating island of Laputa and the country of the Houyhnhnms [horses] was left out. They were some of my favourite, and honestly most intriguing, moments. But admittedly, very few adaptations can get all of them in. Though the ones that can't normally hold true to the ones they do manage to squeeze in. This didn't. At all.
I'm quite angry over how poorly this story was handled. Really. The books are a philosophical sattire about humanity. This movie was... ARGH. Mildly coarse humor, a bit for honor, with a generic romantic sub-plot thrown in. Maybe I'm very harsh because I liked canon. I don't know.
Then there was the acting. Which occasionally hurt my brain. Or perhaps that was the best they could do with the painful script they had.
Jack Black, I feel, must sing and/or play air guitar in every movie he's in. He did not play Gulliver. He played himself. Watch any other of Jack Black's films and you see the same character over and over. I'm so tired.
The mini-series adaption was far greater, I feel. If you must watch only one adaptation, this one is the one I recommend.
All in all, this sucked.
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Date: 2011-01-18 06:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-18 06:44 am (UTC)