Film Review: Labyrinth (1986)

With sad news of David Bowie's passing, the film itself being nearly thirty years old and the recent announcement of a reboot, it felt like the right time to look back at Jim Henson's little cult classic.

When a young girl, Sarah Williams, accidentally wishes that her baby brother, Toby, would be taken away by the goblins, the Goblin King, Jareth, offers Sarah the chance to get Toby back if she can make her way through through labyrinth to his castle. Along the way she solves various riddles and meets up with various friends, including Hoggle, Rudo and Sir Didymus, The fact that the film includes a 'Wizard of Oz' book among Sarah's belongings makes it clear the film doesn't mind you knowing the obvious influences behind the work. There are also hints of Alice in Wonderland and a showdown in an M.C Escher inspired castle.

The main theme of this film is growing up. Sarah is a well off young girl who is moody to her father and stepmother. She starts off attached to her material goods and by the end is ready to give them up to save Toby. We get the usual fantasy as therapy with toys and books from Sarah's bedroom providing the bedrock. Still, it's nice that the film stresses the importance that fantasy is necessary every once in a while.

Jennifer Connelly is decent enough int the role of Sarah. She gets the balance right by showing the spoiled side of Sarah without making the character too unlikable. She doesn't particularly outshine the other actors but is alright.

David Bowie, on the other hand, is perfect at the Goblin King. At some moments he is camp, at others sinister and attractive. Where Jennifer Connelly's Sarah might get lost among the weirdness, Bowie's Jareth owns the screen every time he is on it. The biggest challenge a reboot would face is finding an actor who can make Jareth his own and not just create a weak homage to Bowie.

Hoggle might be considered the third main character of the film as he is the only one of Sarah's fantasy friends who gets any character development. When we first meet him he is pissing in a pond and killing fairies. We also find out he's a bit of a coward. Over time he becomes more sympathetic. The combination of puppet and voice work make him feel genuine. You enjoy watching this character.

As for the other characters, Ludo is sweet but has very little personality. Sir Didymus feels like a weird homage of Basil Brush. He is an amusing comic relief character. Jim Henson's team create a whole range of amusing little characters from the tiny worm with a cockney accent to the evil Junk Lady.

Labyrinth came after The NeverEnding Story and Return to Oz and has a very similar tone to the films. The soundtrack is a nicely sinister in places and certain sets, like the junk pile and the crumbling walls of the labyrinth entrance give the thing a sombre tone. The creatures that Sarah faces are nasty and funny at the same time. From the talking hands that pull her into the abyss to the crazy red furry creatures that threaten to take Sarah's limbs from her body all while jaunty music plays in the background, there is always an element of danger in this film that is fun to watch.

Labyrinth is not exactly a life changing film but not a particularly bad one either. It is certainly worth watching at least once.

7/10

Steven Moffat to leave Doctor Who

It's been confirmed that Steven Moffat will be leaving Doctor Who after Series 10 while  Chris Chibnall will be taking over the role of showrunner for Series 11. The 'Bleeding Cool article earlier this year suggested this, and the fact that Steven kept talking about his departure in interview made it felt less of a surprise and more like a reveal of inevitable news.

I can't say I'm particularly upset at this. Steven has had a pretty good, long run at Doctor Who. In that time he has given us three great Doctors, three wonderful companions, a spectacular anniversary special, and a surprisingly wonderful female Master. All this time he has kept the show in the public eye. When he took over from Russell T Davies he reinvented the show and then when Matt left, just at the point it looked like he might dry up he changed the tone for Peter Capaldi bringing us two of his best series with a more sombre tone to them. It's better that he should go out on a high than risk getting trapped on the show, which happened to John Nathan Turner. I wish him well for whatever future projects he may go on to do after this.

As for Chris Chibnall, he's a good choice for showrunner, albeit not a particularly exciting one. Chibnall has plenty of television experience but I found his Doctor Who scripts fairly average in quality. On the other hand, I did like The Power of Three, so maybe that's promising. Chibnall won't be the cure for all the perceived 'ills' of the Steven Moffat era, but nor should he be terrible. I can imagine something far more traditional and conservative. I have a feeling I won't enjoy the Chris Chibnall era as much as the previous two, but, in a way, that's okay. Change isn't always easy but someone, somewhere, will hopefully identify this as their own era.

With Series 10 not airing until Spring 2017, and a only a Christmas special this year, it's going to be a long wait for some, but gap years have never particularly bothered me. Doctor Who should never feel like a show for people take for granted. For those who don't like the wait it's a good time to look at some other Doctor Who stuff. There's 'Class' to look forward to in the autumn.

Still, all of that is in the future. For now we've got Steven Moffat's last series. Hopefully he can make his exit every bit as exciting as brilliant as his entrance in 2010.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Warning: Potential Spoilers Below for those who have not yet seen the film

I wasn't particularly looking forward to this film. The prequel films had somewhat diminished my enthusiasm for the Star Wars franchise. Fortunately, after watching  The Force Awakens, my enthusiasm for the series has returned.

This movie is at great pains to bring back memories of the original, even vaguely following the plot structure of the original. Our first act involves a droid carrying vital information for a Resistance, being pursued across a desert planet by storm troopers. After our heroes unite, they leave the desert planet on the Millennim Falcon. Shortly after this the planet is destroyed by a planet destroying weapon, the Starkiller Base, and the heroes must try to destroy it.

The numerous callbacks to the old film might make this seem like it's going to be old hat. Yet the film avoids this danger by establishing new characters. While all of them take elements from older characters, none of them are direct copies.

Finn is my favourite of the new lead characters. He is a former Storm Trooper who just wants to run. The image of him carrying the lightsaber made it look like he was going to be the Luke character. In truth he is probably closest to Han Solo in that he is interested in self preservation. He rescues resistance member Poe Dameron simply because he thinks he will help him escape. He spends time running away and then later Rey and BB-8. He just wants to run away. Like Han he has a chance to leave but turns back because he has developed feelings for Rey. His change of heart makes his journey the most fascinating.

Poe Dameron the hot shot space pilot, is only in this film briefly at the beginning and then at the end but he is likable enough. He contributes to the destruction of the Starkiller base but there is certainly more potential than that.  Here's hoping that Episode VIII can flesh him out a bit more.

The final new hero is Rey a young scavenger girl from Jakku. She is likable enough. although a scrap dealer with no parents is less relatable than a farmboy who lives racing. My only complaint is that she learned force skills remarkably quickly. Some of those skills took Luke three films to learn. Within the two hours she has learned to influence the weak minded and learned to force grab objects.

Kylo Ren is a particularly well developed character. It was always going to be difficult to make Ren 'The New Darth Vader' and the film acknowledges that and makes it part of his character. He, like most evil zealots, is deep down a pathetic man who lashes out in anger with his lightsaber. Making him hansome on the inside was a good idea.

The old cast make a welcome return. With Luke absent, Han Solo ends up fulfilling the Ben Kenobi role, assisting the younger cast before confronting the villain and dying. His death at the hands of his son is brilliant. Where Ben Kenobi might have given up on Darth Vader, Han still loves his son enough that he does not hate him. It is great to have Leia back as a General, after Return of the Jedi bizarrely made her seem lower ranking than Han.

If I had one complaint it's that the world building is not as good as when Lucas did it. We see very little of what I assumed to be Coruscant before it is destroyed. It seems that the Republic were keeping order. It is unclear whether the survivors will unite against the first order or whether the destruction of Coruscant will make it easier for the First Order to gain territory.

John William's music is decent. Although the music doesn't contain anything quite as memorable as Duel of the Fates, Rey's theme is a pretty nice piece though.

The Force Awakens is one of the better Star Wars films. Below Empire Strikes Back but better than the Prequels. Probably ranked with A New Hope. It's fun film that one could probably watch again and again. I certainly will in the future.

8/10

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

The idea of taking modern Sherlock cast and having them play their roles in Victorian times has probably crossed every fan's mind at some point. With this slightly belated Christmas special, Moffat and Gatiss have finally scratched that itch. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman get to dress in the more traditional idea of the detectives clothing, Mrs Hudson is a landlady proper and Watson's stories are sold in the strand. The streets of London are as foggy as any old Sherlock Holmes pastiche. Fortunately, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss are wise enough not to make this purely a retro show. The entire Victorian facade is the invention of the 21st century Sherlock, under the influence of drugs. Having heard of Moriaty's apparent return fromt he dead he is looking back in time at another case of a faked death, that of Emilia Ricoletti, the bride who apparently shot herself but returned hours later and killed her husband.

The juxtaposition between the old and new applies to the Ricoletti case itself, as it ties back to women's rights. This is not just a pleasure jaunt through the tropes of Arthur Conan Doyle as Moffatt and Gatiss use the status of the female cast to say something about the sidelining of women. Mrs Hudson, Mary Watson and even Molly Hooper are oppressed by the Victorian times, but by forming a movement they have used the fake Ricolletti to bring revenge on men. Watson takes on a typically chauvinist attitude, but Sherlock and Mycroft, the cleverer men, are able to see the importance of the women's rights movement.

As the narrative progresses Sherlock's drugs wear off the two realities start blurring together and a slightly Inception inspired moment when Holmes and Moriaty are at Reichenbach Falls. It shows that Watson is as ever John's hope. Part of me wishes that the whole thing could have been a pure Victorian melodrama, but this kept the modern series relevant.

The cast are as good as ever. Benedict Cumberbatch is continuing to show the lighter Sherlock whose attitude has been improved through experience with John. Martin Freeman is also great as a far more authoritarian version of Dr Watson. Louise Brealy is hilarious as the disguised Dr Hooper. It was also good to see Tim McInnery making a guest appearance as a wife of one of the women's rights cult.

Overall this was a pretty strong episode of Sherlock. The only downside is the agonising wait until Series 4.

9/10

Looking back at 2015

So, the year 2016 has begun. As far as I'm concerned, 2015 started on high and plummeted towards the end. It's been a rough old time for the world at large. Nevertheless, there have been a few good moments mixed in with the bad.  Here are three of my favourite things to come out of 2015

TV: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

A decent fantasy that I talked about earlier in the year. The opening episode might be a littlw slow but every one after that keeps getting better and better. Bertie Carvel is easily likable as Jonathan Strange but Eddie Marsan makes Mr Norrell a good character. Even George RR Martin was impressed with

Album: Every Open Eye - Chvrches

I only started to get into Chvrches music at the beginning of last year and they've already gone high up in my list of favourite bands. The trio comprised of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty have been producing some pretty decent synth songs. Their newest album, Every Open Eye continues this trend with favorites including 'Make them Gold' and 'Empty Threat'. Hopefully we'll here more from them over the coming years.

Game: Contradiction - Spot the Liar

FMV games were popular in the 90s and have been making a bit of a comeback recently. Contradiction follows  Detective Inspector Jenks as he investigates a quiet english village regarding the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Kate Ryan. The cast are pretty decent. Rupert Booth is great in the role of Jenks and Paul Darrow is predictably great as Paul Rand.

Hopefully 2016 will produce many greater pieces of ephemera as well as brilliant real world events.