Review of The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018) by Jacob B — 25 Oct 2018

I felt that The House with a Clock in its Walls was quite underwhelming. I was hoping some epic fantasy action was going to go down but none really happens. Considering the overly long title and the poster, I thought this was going to be magical and wondrous but it instead comes off as kinda boring.

Jack Black and Cate Blanchett's performances are great and while the kid playing the protagonist is decent, he also comes off as a bit of a crybaby. There are still things to like in this movie. The visuals and sets look awesome to the point that they could've made the entire movie take place inside it and I wouldn't have minded.

Actually, most of it does. We spend some time outside of the house and at school with a kid who feigns friendship for the sake of becoming class president but most of it takes place in the magical houses of Black and Blanchett.

I enjoyed the more thrilling direction the third act took and it made me wish the entire movie focused on it. Yeah, kid has to get used to magic but I want to spend time in the house. To hell with school! HwaCiiW (yeah, I doubt anyone's actually going to abbreviate the title to that) isn't perfect, it's not the magical adventure I was hoping for but it still feels fun and if a sequel is made, maybe the movie's true potential could be realized.