Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Gulliver's Travels DVD {review}



"In a contemporary re-imagining of the classic tale, Jack Black stars as Gulliver a big-talking mailroom clerk who, after he's mistakenly assigned a travel piece on the Bermuda Triangle, suddenly finds himself a giant among men when he washes ashore on the hidden island of Lilliput, home to a population of very tiny people. At first enslaved by the diminutive and industrious Lilliputians, and later declared their hero, Gulliver comes to learn that it's how big you are on the inside that counts."

My rating is : 2 out of 5 stars.

Recently I received a special screening copy of the latest Gulliver's Travels adaptation starring Jack Black, Jason Segel, and Emily Blunt. And last night I sat down to watch it with my teen-aged sister. Now I am no prude, but I was slightly shocked to see that this title only received a G rating in B.C, when throughout the rest of Canada it was more appropriately rated PG. There were one or two chuckle worthy moments that my sister and I enjoyed; however, I did walk away feeling a little disappointed overall. The storyline relied heavily on crude humor and the editing itself seemed slightly sloppy and forced. Although the moral of the original story is present, it is greatly overshadowed by in your face toilet humor throughout the movie. I found myself much more interested in Jason Segel's character Horatio, and his struggle to find an identity than I was in the modern day take on Gulliver's character. Chris O'Dowd's character General Edwards helped to keep the movie going with his 'snidely' good guy/bad guy routine. There were several cute interactions between characters, but most scenes simply consisted of a type-cast Jack Black performing the cheap slapstick we have come to expect from his comedies. If you're looking for a quick laugh on a Friday night, and don't mind some not-so-subtle humor then you may just get a kick out of this latest Gulliver's Travels, but if you'd rather not hear your children calling each other 'lameasses' across the grocery store then I suggest you give this version a miss. 




Gulliver's Travels is available on DVD and Blu-Ray April 12, 2011

I received a complimentary copy of Gulliver's Travels; however, all of the opinions expressed in this review are my own and have not been influenced in any way.
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5 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing your perspective! Sounds as though, like so many fast to market films these days, this one fell a bit short.

Give me a good film noir anyday!

Jenny @ Freebie Spot said...

This movie was pretty decent, but like you, I was shocked at some of the things that were said. I thought it was a kids movie but apparently not.

Darcy said...

I love Jack Black but not all of his roles love him.

Mom vs. the boys said...

thanks for the review, I am not a fan of toilet humour either! I like Jack Black though

Katie said...

What a great, honest review. I think I would enjoy this movie only because my real life is full of nightmares right now and crude humor is just what I need!

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