Film Review: "Slumberland" (2022).

"Every Adventure Begins with a Dream" in Slumberland. This fantasy adventure film directed by Francis Lawrence, written by David Guion and Michael Handelman, and based on the comic strip, Little Nemo in Slumberland, by Winsor McCay. The film takes audiences to a magical new place, a dreamworld where precocious Nemo and her eccentric companion Flip embark on the adventure of a lifetime. After her father Peter is unexpectedly lost at sea, young Nemo's idyllic Pacific Northwest existence is completely upended when she is sent to live in the city with her well-meaning but deeply awkward uncle Phillip. Her new school and new routine are challenging by day but at night, a secret map to the fantastical world of Slumberland connects Nemo to Flip, a rough-around-the-edges but lovable outlaw who quickly becomes her partner and guide. She and Flip soon find themselves on an incredible journey traversing dreams and fleeing nightmares, where Nemo begins to hope that she will be reunited with her father once again.

In January 2020, it was announced that a new live-action film adaptation of McCay's comic strip series will be made exclusively for Netflix and production starting in the summer of that same year. Lawrence was hired to direct and will feature a gender-swapped version of the title character named Nema. Jason Momoa will star as a radically altered version of Flip who is described as a "nine-foot tall creature that is half-man, half-beast, has shaggy fur and long curved tusks". The plot will center on Nemo and Flip traveling Slumberland in search of the former's father. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, filming for the project was postponed. By early November 2020, Kyle Chandler, Chris O'Dowd, and Marlow Barkley rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in early February 2021. Filming took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The film stars Momoa, Chandler, O'Dowd, and Barkley. Momoa and Barkley, as well as the rest of the cast, cannot save Lawrence's vacuous fantasy adventure. Momoa and Barkley have zero banter. Momoa and Barkley tried their best in their performances. That paid off in places, but the rest of the film just did not hold water.

A almost two-hour slog through poor storytelling, boring characters, laughably bad dialogue, and CGI overload. The outcome here is uneven: admirable for its ambition and mindless entertainment value, unable to hold up under close scrutiny, and often dazzlingly beautiful. The film leaves much to be desired. Yes, it has all the eye-popping visual candy of a typical summer blockbuster but it lacks an original story line. There are a few amusing sci-fi concoctions running around, but they're savagely humbled by the dreadful conversations and lackluster banter. Though Lawrence's usual failings have been amplified by his ambition, that ambition is worth seeing for the extremity of the spectacle alone. It deserves a hand for its go for broke, no holds barred attitude. But sometimes, effort alone is not enough to stand out.

Simon says Slumberland receives:

Also, see my review for Red Sparrow.