Review: Labyrinth, plus random crossover musings

[jeriendhal]

Summary: A bored and whiny teenaged theater geek Sarah (Jennifer Connelly), more or less on purpose accidentally asks the Goblin King (David Bowie in tight pants and a fright wig) to kidnap her annoying baby brother and turn him into a goblin. Thinking better on this plan (since she'll probably be grounded for life by her step mom) she begs Bowie to let her rescue her brother. All she has to do is navigate his Labyrinth in thirteen hours and avoid all Muppets that Jim Henson didn't want to let out of their cages...

"Just let me rule over you and I'll be your slave."
-The Goblin King demonstrates why PG-13 was needed back then

Review: Sarah, babe, honey, you're trying to outsmart David Bowie. Why are you trying to outsmart David Bowie? Okay, the "Magic Dance" number in Act Two was silly and stupid, and the Goblin King acts like a guy who is just horribly bored by dealing with his idiot minions all day, but he's frigging David Bowie. He was metasexual back when Russell Davies was still wearing short pants and Captain Jack was just his wet dream.* He took your crying, annoying brother away from you and proved he's a better babysitter. He dances on ceilings (in a nifty bit that was done in camera, not relying on CGI tricks like nowadays), he conjures up musical numbers, he juggles. And you don't want to date him? What's the matter with you?

It's just another case of the villian of the show being far more interesting than the heroine. Throughout the whole proceedings the danger level never rises above "mild goosebumps", given the Goblin King's evident humor over the whole situation (aside from the absolute last confrontation), and the surrounding muppets don't exactly provide dramatic tension.

Sir Didymous was cool though. :)


* Speaking of which, Jack Harkness bumping into the Goblin King would entirely too amusing.

Comments

[litalex.livejournal.com]

...don't give the fangirls (including me, yes) plot bunnies! :p

[masonk.livejournal.com]

There are, at this point, two followup manga volumes that take place ~16 years after the movie, that focus on an older Toby. Just FYI.

[hopeevey.livejournal.com]

Ah, but is the Gobin King in them?

[masonk.livejournal.com]

Aye, in the first one. I haven't yet read the second.

[akselav.livejournal.com]

Loved that movie, personally. Thought it was great.

However, I never got the whole Sarah/Jared (Jarrod?) chemistry thing, maybe 'cause I'm not a straight teenage girl.

However, Jennifer Connelly = teh hot.

I've always been dying to know how the hell they did that glass-ball thingy.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Sarah and Jared had chemistry? ;p Jared was a frigging science lab's worth of chemicals. Sarah, um, not so much. I didn't fall for Connelly until at least The Rocketeer.

The glass ball juggling was a bit of trickery. Basically Henson & Co. got the juggler who had actually developed the technique to crouch behind Bowie and stick his arm out from under the Goblin King's cloak. So not only wasn't Bowie doing anything, the poor fellow who was doing it was working completely blind.