Tram Town
Sunday, April 18, 2004
| Category: Pitchers Haunted Mansion took its time to reach our shores and we caught up with it at Airport West this morning. It is a bit much scare-wise for the smaller kids but 7yo said "it was freaky and I LOVE being FREAKED OUT". Eddie Murphy was not so much of a (dare I say it) "jive-ass nigger" as usual but ALL of the acting made the grade well-and-truly. The biggest problem was that it was really slow starting. It was an 88 minute film that felt more like 110 minutes. It is obviously considered very "derivative" because people compare it to everything except itself; my comparison is Jumanji with which it compares very favourably. I should probably mention that it really does have a story and that is not terribly common in the sort of fillums that I see with my children. The story does peak a little bit early ("read what must be red") and there is not really a satisfying dénouement but it is a real story that isn't just a minute slice of Campbellian myth. 8.0/10 (much of the mark for the acting) (as opposed to 4.9/10 on IMDB... go figure!) |
