Silly hero-type with odd superpower and spotty relationship with his daughter finds his daughter has been fiddling with power that ends up taking them into another what, exactly? Another world? A lesser world? A greater world? Naturally his mother in-law (Michelle Pfeiffer) held a secret that if only the daughter had known she wouldn't have been fiddling with this power.
They end up in this adjacent/nearby/lesser/greater/alternative world, and adventures commence, father-daughter mend their relationship, and mother-in-law and father-in-law save the day, with giant mechanized ants, after the usual almost victory then setback then somewhat bigger victory then setback then triumph! And then some incomprehensible post-credit scenes.
A poorly written sub-ordinary story you've seen in every movie since done the first time long ago, but mostly in Star Wars IV, V and VI.
Bar scene with weirdo aliens? Check.
Living squid-like creature as drink stirrer? Check.
Jabba the Hutt type character but played without make-up by Bill Murray? Check.
Dialogue as witty and creative as Star Wars I and II (which is to say it was neither witty nor creative)? Check.
And a narrative that had all of the surprise of a remake of Cinderella? Check.
Who writes this drivel? Where has the creativity gone? The only actor in this mess who was competent was Ms. Pfieffer. The others all acted like they first read the script about four minutes before being filmed.
One star. And I'm being generous.
They end up in this adjacent/nearby/lesser/greater/alternative world, and adventures commence, father-daughter mend their relationship, and mother-in-law and father-in-law save the day, with giant mechanized ants, after the usual almost victory then setback then somewhat bigger victory then setback then triumph! And then some incomprehensible post-credit scenes.
A poorly written sub-ordinary story you've seen in every movie since done the first time long ago, but mostly in Star Wars IV, V and VI.
Bar scene with weirdo aliens? Check.
Living squid-like creature as drink stirrer? Check.
Jabba the Hutt type character but played without make-up by Bill Murray? Check.
Dialogue as witty and creative as Star Wars I and II (which is to say it was neither witty nor creative)? Check.
And a narrative that had all of the surprise of a remake of Cinderella? Check.
Who writes this drivel? Where has the creativity gone? The only actor in this mess who was competent was Ms. Pfieffer. The others all acted like they first read the script about four minutes before being filmed.
One star. And I'm being generous.