I must admit I've never really read the unabridged un-watered down version of Jonathan Swift classic, Gulliver's Travels
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
u/a; COMEDY
Dir: Rob Letterman
Cast: Jack Black, Amanda Peet, Emily Blunt, Jason Segel , Billy Connolly
**
WHAT'S IT ABOUT: I must admit I've never really read the unabridged un-watered down version of Jonathan Swift classic, Gulliver's Travels.
My first introduction to Gulliver and the Lilliputians came through the Illustrated Classics version and another kiddie version that only gave you a basic gist of the main story.
That said, having Jack Black playing the eponymous albeit reluctant hero of the yarn sounded like a lot of no-strings-attached fun. On paper, at least...
For those who couldn't be bothered with reading the original classic, here's the gist: Lemuel Gulliver sets out on a sea-faring journey. Gets caught in a storm and washes up on Lilliput's shores. He's a giant there and they're very little people. He soon gains their trust and has several adventures there and even helps them defeat their enemies.
In this film set in our time, Lemuel is a lowly mailroom guy working at a newspaper for over 10 years andu00a0 dreams of being a writer. Stuck in a dead-end job, the Guitar Hero/Star Warsu00a0 fanboy decides he has had enough.
Pepped by his assistant who becomes his boss in a span of two days, he approaches his long-time crush and the paper's travel editor Darcy Silverman (Peet) and in a bid to impress her, applies for a job as a trainee travel writer.
He is asked to give a writing sample, but cannot seem to come up with anything. He does a copy-paste job from a website and presents the piece to Darcy as his own. She likes what she sees and assigns Lemuel to go to the Bermuda Triangle and meet a man claiming to know its 'secret'.
Gulliver boards a boat that gets caught in a storm and eventually gets sucked underwater by a whirlpool of sorts.
When his eyes open, he finds himself tied down (literally) by several tiny men. One announces himself as the general, Edward and calls Gulliver 'The Beast'. He presents the giant to his king Theodore (Connolly) and princess Mary (Blunt).
As a captive, Lemuel is initally assigned slave duties, becomes friends with a guy named Horatio (Segel), who has a thing for the princess and has been held captive by the general for daring to.
A few rescues later (he saves the princess from a kidnapping attempt and the king from a fire), he becomes a honorary general and is given a grand mansion to live in, he builds a replica of Times Square and evenu00a0 does his own bootlegged versions ofu00a0 blockbusters like Titanic, Avatar et al.
The rival kingdom of Blefuscia attacks. In a freak revelation, Gulliver finds that he's indestructible and defeats them. Edward switches sides, creates a giant robot and shows Lemuel for the little man that he is. Shamed, he's asked to leave. Does the story end there?u00a0
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WHAT'S HOT: The opening credits. Whatever you do, don't miss it. It's a view of Manhattan that makes the Big Apple seem very tiny in perspective. The sequence in the theatre where Jack's Gulliver spoofs everything from Titanic to Avatar is hilarious.
WHAT'S NOT: The film feels undeniably rushed and so much like a video game filled with pointless tasks and challenges that the hero must complete, that you kind of lose the emotional connect. Too much is crammed in for the sake of cramming in. Also, the ending is kind of unbelievable. Predictable is one thing but having Peet's character confess that she was secretly in love with Black'su00a0 is a bit hard to swallow at the ending. Moreover, this is a children's film that takes too many liberties with the idea of what a family film should be. This is classic Jack Black territory, a space he is comfortable with, and has nothing that would challenge the boundaries of his histrionics. Quite often, you really couldn't care less for what's happening on screen and you do feel bad for the CGI artists who put in so much effort for a film where the script lets it down as do some of the deadpan performances.
WHAT TO DO: Watch at your own risk. It'd be best to wait till this one is out on DVD.
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