Review of Gulliver's Travels (2010) by John K — 26 Nov 2011

This was fun. It didn't exactly stick faithfully to the source material, but I'm ok with that - I recommend Ted Danson's version for an accurate adaptation (including all four voyages).

Based on the posters, I didn't realise that most of the cast were British, and I think they did a good job. Mind you, there are some odd age gaps: based on the age of the actors, it's more plausible that the Queen and Princess would be sisters (i.e. both the King's daughters) rather than mother and daughter. I particularly liked Chris O'Dowd when he was being sarcastic, e.g. his "thumbs up" just before the naval battle, although his electricity puns got a bit tiresome at the end. It was also interesting to see that he could drop a long way without injury: that makes sense, given his smaller mass, e.g. a mouse can easily survive a drop of several times its own height.

The film started with Gulliver having a long-term crush on Darcy but being afraid to ask her out. I've now seen that storyline enough times that it's getting a bit dull, and I just think "Come on, just get on with it". However, that doesn't necessarily make it bad, it may just mean that I need to watch different films. It's a bit odd that the suit guy was still in the mailroom at the end of the film (in casual clothes); maybe there's a deleted scene to explain it, or maybe it's dramatic irony by showing that he's also peaked in his career.

This isn't exactly a subtle film, and I enjoyed seeing how ridiculous it got (e.g. the coffee maker). However, I think they went a bit too far with the big dance at the end.