Review of The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018) by Salo A — 03 Oct 2018
He House with a Clock in its Walls is a PG fantasy film based on the 1973 novel of the same name. It follows Ten-year-old Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) goes to live with his oddball uncle in a creaky old house that contains a mysterious 'tick tock' noise. He soon learns that Uncle Jonathan (Jack Black) and his feisty neighbour, Mrs Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett), are powerful practitioners of the magic arts. From the trailers, I wasn't that excited just because it looked to much like Goosebumps. After watching it, I realized my original thoughts were true. It isn't 100% identical, but the movie doesn't add a lot of new things to the table. The best things on the film are the acting, the characters, and the direction. All the characters seem fresh and unique, and they all have great chemistry with each other. It's also really interesting how the movie pushes the boundaries of the PG rating, showing some really scary visuals that kids under the age of 10 might get nightmares from.
Other than that, the film isn't that great. The CGI can sometimes feel cheap and unreal, while some of the night-scenes can seem too dark to be able to see what is going on. Also, most of the comedy seems forced and all of it is unfunny. This is nothing compare to how the plot is predictable and is not unique at all.
Final Grade: B.
This review of The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018) was written by Salo A on 03 Oct 2018.
The House with a Clock in Its Walls has generally received mixed reviews.
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