Film Review: Labyrinth

  "Labyrinth"  

** (out of ****)

Jim Henson's "Labyrinth" (1986) is a dizzying children's fantasy centered around themes of maturity and the balance between imagination and responsibility but it never sets off on a proper path.

"Labyrinth" was Henson's follow-up to "The Dark Crystal" (1982) a surprisingly dark movie, devoid of the playfulness and lightheartedness often associated with Henson's productions such as Sesame Street and the Muppets. As such it was a box-office flop and poorly received by critics. Seemingly eager to duplicate the experience, Henson and company made "Labyrinth", another visually and thematically dark and joyless movie. It too was a box-office flop and critically unpopular.

The late movie critic Gene Siskel, of Siskel & Ebert fame, for example awarded the movie one star in his Chicago Tribune review. When mentioning "The Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth", Siskel described both of Henson's efforts as "really quite awful, sharing a much too complicated plot and visually ugly style." He further went on to compare the look of some of Henson's creations to the Garbage Pail Kids dolls. Which is not an inaccurate comparison, if we are being honest. Siskel's partner, Chicago Sun-Times movie critic, Roger Ebert felt the movie never came to life and really hit the nail on the head writing, "The movie is too long. Without a strong plot line to pull us through, all movies like this run the danger of becoming just a series of incidents."

Ebert's point illustrates why I always not only respected him as a movie critic but trusted his judgement. We often "saw the same movie" and picked up on similar flaws. It's why I sometimes dislike quoting him because I am afraid some readers will think I am merely copying his opinion. As I watched "Labyrinth" there is a sequence where David Bowie, who plays the Goblin King Jareth, begins to sing and dance with his legion of goblin muppets to a song called Magic Dance. Narratively the sequence serves no purpose. It primarily was an excuse to have Bowie sing a song but it is really filler. It helps to make the movie's running time longer. As I sat there watching this I thought to myself, nothing is holding this movie together. It's just a series of vignettes.

Over the years however both movies have gained a following and acquired defenders - I actually think "The Dark Crystal" was an ambitious and artistic undertaking - and yet at the risk of upsetting a lot of '80s babies (which I am one of) I must admit the "movie critics" were correct, "Labyrinth" is not a very good movie. It seems between both movies "Labyrinth" has the more devoted fan base, especially among my generation, which considers it a "beloved classic". Something I never regarded the movie as. My childhood memories of "Labyrinth" take me back to elementary school where almost every Halloween we would watch it in class, to my dismay and the rest of the class' delight.

"Labyrinth" is either an agglomeration or loving homage to a barrage of well known fairy tales and children stories such as The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Where The Wild Things Are, and Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland. A discontented, bratty teenage girl, Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) is forced to babysit her brother while her parents go out for the evening. As the baby, Toby ( Toby Froud) begins to cry, Sarah can't handle the situation and wishes goblins would come to take away her brother, sparing her from a life of inconvenience.

There is a back story to Sarah that is never told in a forthright manner, only hinting at things. It is implied Sarah has a stepmother (Shelley Thompson). My impression was her biological mother died and was a actress, which would explain newspaper clippings on her mirror. Sarah, again merely implied, would like to become an actress and has a great interest in fairy tales. When we first see her she is reciting lines to a story involving a princess, magical kingdoms, goblins and a goblin king. Soon the realization she is late returning home causes her to run in the rain.

Exploring the background story a bit more, or at all, could have potentially made Sarah a sympathetic character, especially to a pre-teen audience, who may be the audience this movie is geared towards. Unfortunately, the impression Sarah gives is that of an overly dramatic, self-centered brat. It doesn't come across as your typical teen angst, just entitlement. The Sarah presented to us is at an awkward stage between child and adulthood. She likes her stories and stuffed animals and at the same time her parents expect her to accept responsibility, which she is reluctant to take on. By the end of the movie the character, we assume, will grow. 

It just so happens there is a group of goblins in the walls of Sarah's home waiting attentively for her to utter the words, she wishes the goblins would take her baby brother. And here we must stop again. Why are goblins in her home? Have they been following her for a while? Do all homes with children have goblins assigned to them? Are the goblins capable to doing household chores and what would be their rates?

As luck would have it - for the goblins anyway - Sarah does wish for them to take her brother. Within an instant, Sarah not only notices her brother is gone but also regrets her wish and wants her brother to return. This she learns cannot be after the Goblin King swoops into her home disguised as an owl (which for some reason made me think of Harry Potter). After he transforms into a man with Tina Turner like hair, he informs Sarah her actions have consequences and should accept her brother is gone. Her persistence however leads the Goblin King to present Sarah with an opportunity. She can have her brother back if she can reach his castle, located at the center of an elaborate labyrinth in 13 hours.

Everything I've described happens rather quickly in the movie. So quickly in fact I don't believe Sarah learned her first lesson, actions have consequences. The plot is being rushed. Sarah's growth is too sudden. She quickly feels remorse and concern for her brother. This is all done to immediately take us to what Henson must believe is a magical world.

But nothing in this Labyrinth world feels magical. Surreal, yes but I never really felt I was watching a truly magnificent spectacle. Not that I doubt the level of craft that the production team put in to create it. When Dorothy entered the land of Oz, you knew it was special if for no other reason the lavish colors. It presented such a contrast to the drab black & white world of Kansas. The Labyrinth world Sarah enters looks dreary and depressing. I wonder if this was an inspiration for Guillermo del Toro and his masterpiece "Pan's Labyrinth" (2006) a fairy tale gone wrong. The difference is del Toro's movie was for adults and he could lean into the nightmare qualities of his story. Henson is trying to have it both ways. He can't create such a nightmare-ish scenario and not scare children away.

One of the first creatures Sarah meets in this world is Hoggle, whom at one point Sarah mistakenly calls Hogwart, our second Harry Potter reference. He is a dwarf character who is crafty, cowardice, self-centered, and untrustworthy. He knows his way around the Labyrinth and could help Sarah if he chose to. There is a minimal level of suspense created making the viewer question if he works for the Goblin King or if he is befriending Sarah. It serves the purpose of creating another lesson for Sarah, not to take things for granted like her family and friends.

Sarah befriends two more creatures Ludo, a giant monster like character that recalls Where The Wild Things Are. Despite his appearance he is friendly. Then there is a fox terrier named Sir Didymus, who despite his diminutive size regards himself as something of a great medieval knight. In a scene recalling "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938), the fox will not allow Sarah and her friends to cross a bridge without permission.  

This sequence with Sir Didymus is another example of filler. When the gang meets Didymus they are in the "Bog of Eternal Stench", a kind of flatulent island. Perhaps it is meant to make really small children laugh but it serves no purpose and wears out its welcome. Establishing that "Labyrinth" is little more than a series of "adventures" strung together by a flimsy plot.

Besides the Magic Dance sequence and the "Bog of Eternal Stench" the most egregious of these mindless filler sequences is a ballroom sequence. Between this and Magic Dance it feels like we have placed two music videos in the middle of a movie.

This may also present a new issue with "Labyrinth" when watched with modern eyes, as it nears its 40th anniversary. The creepiness of the relationship between the Goblin King and Sarah. Is this man hitting on a teenage girl? Is she in some weird way attracted to him? Is this part of becoming a woman for Sarah? It may explain why in the Magic Dance sequence another older movie is invoked, "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" (1947) with Cary Grant and Shirley Temple, in her first role as a teenager. In that movie she has a crush on a older man (Grant) who is ordered by a court to take her out on a date, as a way to lessen her attraction. The movie has a famous exchange of dialogue:

You remind me of a man.

What man?

The man with the power

What power?

Power of Hoodoo

Hoodoo?

You do?

What?

Remind me of a man

At the beginning of the Magic Dance song the Goblin King recites this dialogue. But who is going to notice this? I didn't come across any reviews that pointed this out. With Jim Henson and David Bowie gone, research has shown I'm the only person alive that remembers "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer". Which leads to the question, who is this movie for in the first place?

Performance wise, David Bowie seems to be having a good time but it isn't what I would necessarily call a "good performance". Gene Siskel said of Bowie, "(he) looks as out of place in this film as if he were hosting the Grand Ol' Opry." Connelly, whom Siskel described as "forgettable", does seem a little stiff and doesn't play a full range of emotions convincingly. She had made her acting debut two years prior in Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time In America" (1984) and also had a role in one of Italian horror maestro's Dario Argento's better films, "Phenomena" (1985). Nothing in "Labyrinth" however suggest to me she would go one to become a terrific Academy Award winning actress. For a while she was a hot commodity situating herself as one of our finest actresses.

I don't know if "Labyrinth" is a suitable movie to watch this "spooky season", as I don't consider it a horror movie. But it is often associated with Halloween. "Labyrinth" is a dismal movie not really meant for younger children and I wouldn't think interesting enough to hold the attention of teenagers and adults. There will be a nostalgia factor for some that saw this as kids in the '80s but with adult eyes, I really can't imagine many people finding this to be a great or worthwhile movie. It doesn't compare to the classic family movies before it, some of which it pays homage to. The characters aren't likable, the moral isn't obvious, and the plot is confusing at best and too weak for a feature-length movie.