REVIEW: 'Gulliver's Travels'

A family adventure-comedy based on the 18th Century novel by Jonathan Swift. In this contemporary take also screening in 3D, Jack Black is travel writer Lemuel Gulliver. Now playing nationwide. Click here for session info.
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Much like 2004’s Around the World in 80 Days remake, Gulliver’s is a star-studded reimagining of a classic piece of literature that shoots for the moon, aims for laughs and misses both targets by a country mile.

Basically a vehicle for Jack Black to showcase his man-child shtick to a more family friendly audience, director Rob Letterman (Monsters vs Aliens)’s film relies heavily, not only on the traditional costumes and special effects (some of the sets and size manipulation are truly impressive), but sadly also bodily function gags, school-boy humour (it’s wedgies a go-go here), and product placement.

Much is made of Gulliver’s cut-and-paste plagiarism but the charge could also be leveled at this movie’s scriptwriters, whose efforts seems simply a hybrid of The Final Countdown (dislocation via sea vortex), Transformers, Cast Away (mailman lost at sea and hope to see girl of his dreams once more) and most notably Wild Wild West.

Wasteful of comedic talent like Connolly, Tate and Segal, it’s a sad indictment of a film when the three-minute short preceding it, Scrat’s Continental Adventure, generates more guffaws.

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