Mark Chance
Boingy! Boingy!
Took the kids to see these.
Timeline was kind of blah, which wasn't surprising, since the novel itself was both blah and read like it was intended to be screenplay (much like Crichton's most recent movie-in-waiting, Prey). It did have a few exciting moments, my son enjoyed the swords and horsies, and it had a princess (of sorts) for my daughter. Still, I felt kind of bad rooting for the French....
Haunted Mansion, despite what the reviews say and previews want you to believe, is not a comedy. With Eddie Murphy mugging at the camera and lapsing into Donkey mode, it's also not a drama. With a central conflict revolving around the forbidden love between a rich Southern aristocrat and an African-American woman, it is also studiously not a movie about race or racism, which is the film's greatest failure. Christopher enjoyed the movie greatly. Adrienne was scared by a few of the scenes, especially in the crypt. She emerged no worse for wear, however, and we had no nightmares, which is good. Guess I've got to go back to pre-screening movies again.
My recommendation: You got time to kill, and you've seen everything else you want to see, both movies are worth the price of a matinee ticket as long you don't have high expectations, which shouldn't be a problem since neither Eddie Murphy nor Paul Walker (especially Paul Walker, who is too much like a loaf of Wonder Bread with a five-o-clock shadow) inspire high expectations.
Timeline was kind of blah, which wasn't surprising, since the novel itself was both blah and read like it was intended to be screenplay (much like Crichton's most recent movie-in-waiting, Prey). It did have a few exciting moments, my son enjoyed the swords and horsies, and it had a princess (of sorts) for my daughter. Still, I felt kind of bad rooting for the French....
Haunted Mansion, despite what the reviews say and previews want you to believe, is not a comedy. With Eddie Murphy mugging at the camera and lapsing into Donkey mode, it's also not a drama. With a central conflict revolving around the forbidden love between a rich Southern aristocrat and an African-American woman, it is also studiously not a movie about race or racism, which is the film's greatest failure. Christopher enjoyed the movie greatly. Adrienne was scared by a few of the scenes, especially in the crypt. She emerged no worse for wear, however, and we had no nightmares, which is good. Guess I've got to go back to pre-screening movies again.
My recommendation: You got time to kill, and you've seen everything else you want to see, both movies are worth the price of a matinee ticket as long you don't have high expectations, which shouldn't be a problem since neither Eddie Murphy nor Paul Walker (especially Paul Walker, who is too much like a loaf of Wonder Bread with a five-o-clock shadow) inspire high expectations.
