Slumberland is a brand-new family film that is heading to Netflix this weekend. I'm really excited to talk about this one because well this movie was really kind of boring Let's just get to it.
Today in the blog, I want to talk to you guys about the brand-new fantasy adventure film called Slumberland. Slumberland was co-produced and directed by Francis Lawrence, who has directed many of 'The Hunger Games' films and 'I am Legend'. The film stars Jason Momoa and Marlo Barclay.
In the dream world of Slumberland, a young girl works with an outlaw to see her late father again. I had the opportunity of checking out this film early as I had no expectations of what this film was going to be about. I hadn't seen a single trailer for this film as I usually don't with Netflix movies. After watching the film, the only thought that I had in my head was the fact that this movie feels like a Disney live-action remake of one of their classic animated films.
It features a very boring mediocre story that just does all the basics you would come to expect. Also, it doesn't look very good with a very high budget and the anime film is 100 times better. It's really hilarious that I thought of that after watching this film because when I was doing my research on the film. I realized that this is based on a 1920s comic strip and there's also a co-produced Japanese and American 1989 animated film that has had a cult following ever since it bombed in theaters. It looks like a really great anime film and it seems like that's what this movie probably should have been because this movie just is really boring.
I know I said this movie is a family movie but I wouldn't show this movie to kids maybe 10 and younger because this movie deals with a lot of dark themes. Like, the young girl losing her dad at the beginning of the movie that is in the trailer it's literally the plot of this movie and she goes into this dreamlike land it might be a little too dark for younger viewers. This movie does have some very dark aspects about it and that is something that I really didn't Joy it reminded me very heavily of Steven Spielberg's hook that that movie didn't get a lot of good reviews when it came out but over time. It is a cult classic and everyone loves that movie but it's a really dark and serious movie and it's almost just made for adults. This movie has a lot of those similar things.
I do have to start with the performances, Jason Momoa and Marlo Barclay are easily the best aspects about this film. I really enjoy chemistry, they have one another. Especially, Jason Momoa who is definitely playing a very over-the-top silly character but he just fits this character so perfectly I also found that Marla Barkley was really good in this movie, especially for a child actor. She really gave it her all. I think she has a really bright future. This is also Marla Barkley's first film that she's ever been in unless you count spirited that they both come out the same weekend. How does that ever happen that's gotta be a landmark?
Slumberland movie does have a lot of very fun magical moments sprinkled throughout the movie. There are a lot of really good creative ideas in here that are probably from the comic strip and even maybe even borrowed from the animated film. I really liked a lot of the aspects, they feel so magical and interesting and very different from a lot of other family films. Not all of it looked all that good because the visual effects in this movie are really bad.
I did feel like this movie does have that magical aspect that kids and families can really gravitate towards. I feel like a lot of family films don't ever want to get this dark and deep because you know movies are supposed to just be entertainment to some people and it's just escapism. But sometimes we need to go back to those dark places and this movie isn't afraid to do.