When you finally see the film, it can be said that there are several elements of Goosebumps in this film. Ultimately, though, the film is The House with a Clock in its Walls . Then, is The House with a Clock in its Walls really a fun and enjoyable film as promised by the trailer ?
Dark Fantasy That Entertains the Family
If we talk about the entertaining ( enjoyable ), the film directed by Eli Roth ( Hostel ) is said to be samgat entertaining. Especially if we watch with family. Guaranteed geeks will get a very beautiful quality time with family.
Who would have thought that the filmmaker, who is famous for his gory and spooky works , would be able to direct a film that is clearly outside the shutter of its genre . But, that's the reality of geeks . Without his qualified direction, it is guaranteed that this film will be far from entertaining what has been said.
This Massachusetts-based director, was a great success in presenting the fantasy elements that are the essence of the story without losing its signature suspense. In his hands, this film feels magical, funny and at the same time feels quite creepy . The jokes that are displayed are also quite funny, although some of them sometimes don't really hit.
Pacing Too Fast
Apart from the jokes that don't really hit, the pacing of this film is somehow too fast ( to the point ). It's even better than rambling here and there isn't it? But, it's precisely the pacing that slows down a bit, it's really needed.
The reason is that the pacing, which is not immediately " like bik buk ", will provide space for the introduction of Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) with his uncle who is a warlock, Jonathan Barnavelt (Jack Black), feels more detailed and in-depth.
Geeks remember how the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) movie paced ? If you think about it with a duration of 2.5 hours, with a lot of exposition pacing , it will feel long and boring, right?
But why don't many fans feel that way? Because the film must be told with such pacing so that we can witness and understand in depth the intricacies of Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) life journey in his first year until it finally ends up against his nemesis, Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).
Indeed, the film shows how Lewis first met Jonathan and his "unique" neighbor and assistant, Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett), then he became more and more interested in becoming a Warlock as well as his uncle.
But as has been said, the process is presented very quickly and too to the point which eventually makes us not care about Lewis's life journey. Moreover, the story of this film has 12 chapters in the novel. If Harry, who has only 7 novels, can "take their time" to cultivate his pacing , why can't The House with a Clock ?
Black-Blanchett's Magical Chemistry & Charisma
Fortunately, in the midst of the speed of pacing , Roth was still able to find loopholes to display exposition scenes that kept us informed of the background of the characters displayed.
Apart from that, another important aspect that helps this film to its fullest is the appearance as well as the magical and unexpected chemistry of Hela and Po. Oops we mean Black & Blanchett.
Come to think of it, Jack Black and Cate Blanchett. One comedic one dramatic. Furthermore, before meeting each other in this film, the two had never appeared together. Where can you show cool chemistry ? But in reality, once again, the opposite is true.
The two characters they play can support each other, which in turn makes their interactions very dynamic. Not to mention that basically both of them are charismatic figures, especially Black. Bottom line, if it weren't for these two, this film is guaranteed to be pretty boring.
Then what about Vaccaro? Was he successful in his biggest lead role? It can be said that in the debut of this main role, the child actor who was first recognized through his role as Dylan in Daddy's Home (2015) is quite okay but unfortunately, a crybaby.
We don't know if Lewis is like this in his novel. But what is clear in this film is that he is described as having a crybaby mentality, although sometimes that is not the case. But in one scene he is shown sobbing which makes him look like a crybaby boy.
We understand when he was like that, it was due to a sensitive matter related to his deceased mother. But we think it would be better if his sadness was not displayed so whiny. But apart from this complaint, overall Vaccaro performed quite well.
In the end, despite the various complaints that have been mentioned previously and the main villain who has a very generic motif, The House with the Clock in its Walls , is a very entertaining, mysterious and quite exciting adaptation.
As said, the story is divided into 12 novels. In the future, the studio plans to adapt the remaining 11 stories, hopefully they can learn a lot from all the shortcomings in this film.
Because in our opinion, this franchise has great potential to become Harry Potter or in other words, a new cool franchise story for today's young audience. Let's just pray that it will be.
Well, for geeks who this weekend might want to take their family to watch together, make sure you watch The House with the Clock in its Walls . Guaranteed, your time with your family will be very enjoyable.
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