Gulliver's Travels (2010)
Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

Jack Black (Kung Fu Panda, School Of Rock) is larger than life in this epic comedy-adventure based on the classic tale. When a shipwreck lands a lowly mailroom clerk named Gulliver (Black) on the fantastical island of Lilliput, he transforms into a giant - in size and ego! Gulliver's tall tales and heroic deeds win the hearts of the tiny Lilliputians, but when he loses it all and puts his newfound friends in peril, Gulliver must find a way to undo the damage. Through it all, Gulliver may just learn that it's how big you are on the inside that counts.

User Comment: cybergel from Singapore, 31 December 2010 • 2010 marks the year that 20th Century Fox hits rock bottom. With this movie, if you can even call this a movie, Fox has become a degenerate studio catering to drooling imbeciles with any lack of taste for films in general.

Before I review this film in proper, let me list down Fox's 'achievements' for 2010: 1. John Davis. Enough said. This so-called 'uber-producer' who produces schlock for 20th Century Fox and its incumbent incompetent chairman, Tom Rothman, is no Jerry Bruckheimer or Brian Grazer. Look at his list of crap-fest. Garfield? Dr Dolittle? Marmaduke? Norbit? Daddy Day Camp? And now this? He must be the king of talking animal flicks and that includes Jack Black. Can someone please stop him from producing anymore nonsensical rubbish? 2. Tom Rothman. The man responsible for micromanaging and mismanaging every single Fox misfire this year. Stipulating all films to run under 2 hours? Prince Caspian was a masterpiece at 140 minutes and Dawn Treader sunk under its light weight at 110 minutes. Same goes for X3. Whatever happened to the 131 minute of a superhero epic we got for X2? Changing the title of 'Knight and Day'? And now a marketing executive takes the blame for the film's underwhelming box office returns? Real smooth, Tom, real smooth. Way to go for being a great helmsman in charge.

3. Every flick that 20th Century Fox put out somehow fizzled at the box office. A-Team, Knight and Day, Marmaduke, Wall Street, Percy Jackson. Not a good lineup considering that the studio is celebrating its 75th anniversary. Not one classic. In comparison, look at Paramount's 1987's lineup for its 75th Anniversary. The Untouchables, Planes Trains and Automobiles, Fatal Attraction, Beverly Hills Cop 2. Now, this is the way to go! I digress. Now back to Gulliver's Travels. The biggest problem with this flick is that everything about it is cringe-worthy. 'Gavatar'? 'Homages' to practically all successful Fox movies? This is pure shameless self-promotion and self-aggrandizement I have ever seen. If this is a contemporary update of Swift's classic novel, it has failed utterly and miserably.

Jack Black's ego is the problem here. He's still acting as a good-for-nothing slacker who plays rock music all day long. Basically, he's a momma's boy who has yet to grow up. Trying to play off his 'School of Rock' persona, I guess he wants to cater to the young. I mean, the breakout into the rock number at the end of the film, serves as an embarrassing reminder that Black needs to find an exit fast.

Emily Blunt is being reduced to nothing more than a pea-brained princess whose intelligence rivals that of Hugh Laurie's 'Prince mini-brain' in the Blackadder series. What a disappointing turn from a hugely talented actress.

Jason Segal is still holding on to a job? All in all, a really awful cinematic experience. Extremely forgettable. This film should be analysed in film classes or even in movie executive conference rooms as to how not to make a film.

Summary: Worst film of 2010.

User Comment: *** This review may contain spoilers *** Jonathon Dabell (barnaby.rudge@hotmail.co.uk) from Wakefield, England, 4 January 2011 • First things first: if you are watching Jack Black's version of Gulliver's Travels because you're a fan of the original book, you might want to skip it altogether. Gone is the literate and satirical edge that has kept the story in print for over two centuries. Instead we have a loud, brash, very "Hollywood" retelling in which the nearest we get to satire is when Black topples backwards and squishes a Lilliputian in his butt-crack. There are some very mildly amusing moments in this film, but overall it is a regrettable example of the direction major American studio releases seem to be heading. That is to say: over-marketed, self-satisfied, bland nonsense, made with business in mind and not the art of film-making itself.

Mailroom slacker Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black) works in a huge Manhattan editorial office. He spends most of his time quoting movies, playing Guitar Hero, and wishing that gorgeous hotshot travel editor Darcy Siverman (Amanda Peet) will notice him. One day, Gulliver realises that he has spent the best part of ten years doing nothing with his life… so to impress Darcy he takes on a minor assignment investigating strange goings-on in the Bermuda Triangle. During the trip, Gulliver's boat is caught up in a strange oceanic vortex and flung into a strange other-worldly kingdom known as Lilliput. Here the inhabitants are no bigger than insects and Gulliver appears as a fearsome giant. Soon he befriends the King (Billy Connolly), the Queen (Catherine Tate), the Princess (Emily Blunt), and an honourable prisoner (Jason Segel). But a slimy and untrustworthy military man, General Edward (Chris O'Dowd), refuses to buy Gulliver's tall stories and plots to rid the land of this new giant once and for all….

The fact that Jack Black is merely playing Dewey Finn from School Of Rock, and transposing the character to another film, is just the beginning of this film's problems. The overall acting talent wasted here is enough to make a grown man cry. Connolly fails to raise a single smile as the Lilliputian king, while Blunt (whose career so far has been refreshingly sure-footed) is reduced to the level of a ditsy bimbo. This will do her career no favours whatsoever. Segel, Peet and especially O'Dowd are all equally guilty of frittering away their talents in moronic roles. In terms of finding positive things to say about the film, at least the special effects are pretty good, and there are infrequent amusing moments (mainly references to other films, or sprinklings of toilet humour). Overall, though, that's about as positive as I can be. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the concept of modernising Jonathan Swift's novel, but not if it's to be reduced to this level of cheap vulgarity and simple-minded storytelling.

Summary: A minor crime against cinema; a major crime against literature!

[CSW] -2- Although it was barely watchable I didn't actually hate it. I watched the 2D version to see if I wanted to purchase the 3D version -- conclusion Never.
Note: The 3D version was a post-production conversion.
[V4.0-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box 6.2/10.

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