I'm so small, so very very small

Gulliver’s Travels – Rob Letterman

Christmas films around this time of the year tend to be horrible horrible pieces of filmmaking but because it’s Christmas it’s allowed just to grab as much money as possible but this year the games totally changed. With films like the new Narnia picture, Tron Legacy and Harry Potter still in the cinemas, it seems as though Christmas themed films have been left out for big budgeted family feel good movies and Gulliver’s Travels follows this trend but unfortunately isn’t as good as the films mentioned. Sure it has it’s values in how every person has there day and without the confidence to stride into what they want to do, they will end up nowhere, have the courage to get the job you want, the girl you love and the life you want to lead. That pretty much sums up what the message is, the hidden message but it’s told through Jack Black being Jack Black, which by now has become somewhat stale.

The film follows Gulliver, a mailroom loser who one day after hiding his crush on the travel writer, played by Amanda Peet decides to take the initiative and take an assessment which leads him travelling to the Bermuda Triangle where he falls into a crazy whirlpool. He lands up on a small island, and where i mean small, i mean everything is small including the people. He finds himself under the control of the general of the army played by the funny Chris O’Dowd in his breakthrough villain role which a really funny moustache. He is taken to the King (Billy Connelly) and Queen (Catherine Tate) of the world and is seen as a large beast been sent to the destroy them and after saving the princess, played by the amazing and beautiful Emily Blunt, they change their perception of him into a god. He also becomes chummy with Jason Segel which is strange, it’s mostly a British cast but with these two in it, just seems off. And the script is mainly to blame here, under using all of the characters and having some really dodgy special effects to capture Black being bigger than everyone.

It’s funny in places as in you’ll laugh out loud at some of the silly stuff, particularly the advertisement boards they put up using Gulliver’s name and face, really funny. But some parts just are boring, so boring in fact you wonder why you’re watching it, when you know Black is hilarious in School of Rock, Segel is immense in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Blunt is amazing in everything she’s ever done (i have a bit of a crush on her, as you can tell). It’s an okay watch, not boring but not outstanding, a mid range comedy.

5/10

Simon Childs