Slumberland might be one of the best movies for kids this holiday season. Even with the most recent Enola Holmes 2 movie, Francis Lawrence is best known for directing the three Hunger Games movies, I Am Legend and Jennifer Lawrence’s raunchiest movie to date. Slumberland is a lush fantasy adventure that combines old-world charm with cutting-edge visual effects.
Slumberland is an American fantasy adventure movie that will come out in 2022. It was written by David Guion and Michael Handelman and directed by Francis Lawrence. It is based on Winsor McCay’s comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland.
Chris O’Dowd, Kyle Chandler, and Weruche Opia also have small parts in the movie. The main stars are Jason Momoa and Marlow Barkley. The movie Slumberland came out on Netflix on November 18, 2022.
What is Slumberland All About?
Young Nemo is introduced to city life by Slumberland, complete with an awkward uncle and a school that resembles a prison, at least according to her father. A small plush pig that belonged to her father transports her one night into the fabled Flip’s dream world, turning her mundane existence around.
The two then embark on an adventure across this dream realm when she discovers a map in Slumberland that might lead to a reunion with her father. The adventures that they have cannot be missed as Flip explains to Nemo the laws of this planet, which they will undoubtedly transgress. Will Nemo, however, have time to meet her father before she must awaken?
The Audience Call on Slumberland!
- The realm of dreams is described as “a world with no consequence,” but as constructed, that comes in a movie with no clear creative compass, proving more mystifying than magical.
- Ms. Barkley comes across as a kid rather than a studio creation. Mr. Momoa gives the kind of unhinged performance of which few would have thought him capable. His prancing about at moments of joy is, in fact, joyous.
- Slumberland is not a terrible movie and it may very well spark your imagination or tug at your heartstrings. But it also could have been so much more had it not gotten so bogged down in its own superfluous flash, which, by the end, just feels exhausting.
- Playing like an amalgam of Monsters, Inc., and Inception, this family-friendly fantasy thankfully doesn’t put audiences to sleep, but neither does it draw us into its dreamy sensation.
- For Netflix to be this non-committal about a $150 million fantasy film starring Jason Momoa as a horned lothario cosplaying Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler doesn’t seem like the worst idea.
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Slumberland Review: Watch It or Ignore it!
When Jason Momoa’s Flip says, “Don’t judge, at least it’s original,” it nearly sounds like he is defending the new Netflix fantasy film, “Slumberland,” since it does, at least on the surface, seem more innovative than something like The School for Good and Evil.
Even though it may be based on Winsor McCay’s comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland, the story is more of an original inspiration than a straight reproduction. Instead of one-off adventures, Nemo (Marlow Barkley) has been gender-flipped in this story, and Slumberland offers a lengthy quest.
Nemo is joined on her escapades by quirky, self-described outlaw Flip (Momoa). He serves as her tour guide as they travel through people’s dreams in search of the one thing that could reconnect Nemo with her late father Peter in the mystical world of Slumberland (Kyle Chandler).
It starts out as a fun family twist on Inception, but it ends up being just somewhat less confusing than Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster. Because Slumberland’s main flaw is that it spends too much time elaborating on its unusual setting and forgets to enjoy it.
In some of our dreams, there are set pieces with some visual flourishes, such as dancers made of butterflies, but otherwise, every scene is drenched in shoddy digital effects. The film often returns to the same dreams, which is frustrating because a film set in an endless universe of dreams ought to be more imaginative.
One of the many exposition dumps informs us that, in order to add some danger, if Nemo dies in someone else’s dream, she actually dies. Slumberland never really thrills because despite being pursued by a shadow creature akin to the one from Lost, the main character never feels truly in danger.
It doesn’t help that the movie occasionally breaches its own laws despite all of its attempts to create its own world logic. You could just let it go and enjoy the journey, but the ride is so uninteresting that your attention will be attracted to the contradictions.
However, the cast is not at fault for Slumberland’s shortcomings. Jason Momoa willingly adopts Flip’s swagger while also developing a convincing friendship with Nemo as they go from reluctant allies to true friends. Meanwhile, Marlow Barkley, a relative newbie, keeps up with her A-list co-star.
The film does have a powerful emotional core, despite all the elaborate pieces and global disappointment. Even though it almost seems like a cheat to portray Kyle Chandler as another sincere parent (like in Super 8, for example), his scenes with Barkley are moving and help to connect the movie’s themes together. Watch the Trailer below:
Rating of Slumberland
When judging a show, everyone looks at its rating. Most of the time, the best way to know if a show will continue to air is to look at how well it does in the ratings. As your rank goes up, your chances of making it are better. The show has a good IMDb rating of 6.6/10 and a good audience rating of 37% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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