Offsetting. Fantasy #6
- Come on, guys! Quick! And don't even think about sending me an invoice.
I sometimes begin to regret that in my cinematic journey I got so far, in the 70s. It is clear that certain genres of cinema can not be of high quality at that time. I'm not a big fan of fantasy, and in the seventies, to find something useful in this genre you have to try very hard. The 1977 film “Jubberwoks” attracted me with its synopsis, but often there is a void behind an interesting description.
In one kingdom, a terrible monster appeared, which keeps the county at bay. Locals leave their villages and go to the city. Dennis decided to do the same to get rich and thereby impress his father with his beloved, whom he wants to marry.
As I said, I’m not a fan of the fantasy genre, especially when the action takes place in the Middle Ages. I'm not attracted to all those castles, dragons, jousting tournaments and stuff. And when the second genre (in this case, comedy) is mixed into something like this, it puzzles me doubly.
I didn't like the movie. I have not seen such a primitive story in a long time. Despite the fact that the timekeeping is not so great, I had to view it in several approaches, as this boring and dull spectacle made me sleepy. I was constantly losing the thread of the story.
The only positive thing was the costumes and decorations. At least something in this film is not repulsive. Everything is very realistic and you can feel the atmosphere of the Middle Ages. Castles, houses of ordinary residents, country roads from everything and blows of that era. And costumes only add to the entourage. Here, even the armor of the black knight looks better than in many other films on a similar topic.
The movie is comedic, but I never smiled. The humor here is so flat and primitive that it does not even cause any emotions, let alone a smile. I like black humor only when it is appropriate. In the same film, naturally "comedy" scenes and dialogues are always out of topic.
What really made me laugh was the monster. The growth suit, as in the early Japanese Godzilla films, is made so disgusting that one wonders who you hope to scare? If the same Godzilla small details of the costume does not allow you to see the setting of the frame (close-up plans are very few), then here you can not look at all this terrible costume without laughing.
As with most medieval fantasy, Jabberwoks features no sword fights. I thought that at least the combat choreography would not fail here. And of course it wasn't. The fights are sluggish, lazy, and it seems that no one was engaged in their production at all. What is the final battle worth?
More than half of the actors do not even try to play, but only wander around various locations like sleep flies, and pronounce the text. But there are those who, on the contrary, too used to the role and openly overplay. Sometimes they are annoyed with their overly energetic play. As far as I know, this film was shot in parallel with Star Wars, and some actors lit up there and there. But the level of acting of these two projects is not comparable.
I don’t even know who to recommend this film to. Unless passionate fans of the Middle Ages, because that atmosphere, this is the only thing that more or less turned out well with the creators of “Jabbervocs”.
2 out of 10