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The
Haunted Mansion Movie Review: That star was Eddie Murphy, and it is with a grieving heart I must pass on the word of his demise. No, not physically, but comedically, for that shining streaming comet of laugh-inducing thunder who shaped the modern face of movie comedy in the 1980’s and ‘90’s lives no more. That’s right kids, I think I can safely say we won’t be seeing another “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Eddie Murphy Delirious” (a concert film that ranks right up there with Richard Pryor’s best) or “Coming to America” anytime soon. Don’t get me wrong, Eddie still has that sparkle, but the luster is definitely fading. In fact, the only time he tends to show it nowadays is in a supporting role, like his sublime turn in Steve Martin’s “Bowfinger,” or purely in vocal turns with his hilarious work in both “Mulan” and “Shrek.” But as far as his leading man material is concerned, Murphy’s been a laugh-free lost cause for some time now. And while he still has had financial successes – both “The Nutty Professor II” and “Daddy Day Care” were hits even though they stank – audiences are slowly coming around to the fact this talented comedian isn’t anything like he once was. I’d like to say this trend comes to an end with Disney’s new family comedy-adventure “The Haunted Mansion.” I’d like to say Eddie is back firing on all cylinders, the old Murphy charisma elevating this based-on-a-theme-park-ride adaptation up to being something special. I’d like to say a lot of things, like my Seattle Supersonics are going to win the NBA championship this season or the United States has a foreign policy that makes sense, but it just isn’t going to happen. Because despite a winning moment here and there, “The Haunted Mansion” has far more in common with “The Country Bears” than it wants to, all allusions to “Pirates of the Caribbean” grandeur left dying in the graveyard. In short, the decline of Eddie Murphy undeniably continues. Not that this movie didn’t have a shot. The director is Rob Minkoff, the co-director of “The Lion King,” who really proved his metal as a live action family film director with the wondrous “Stuart Little 2” and seems more than up to the task here. He’s put a great supporting cast around Murphy, not the least of which includes Terence Stamp (“Superman II,” “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”), Wallace Shawn (“The Princess Bride,” “Duplex”) and Jennifer Tilly (“Bullets Over Broadway”), and brought in the awesome Oscar-winning talents of Rick Baker (“The Nutty Professor,” “An American Werewolf in London”) to handle the makeup effects. But a tired and flat script by Roger Berenbaum undoes them all. While his writing here doesn’t come close to the crass awfulness of his witless work on “Elf,” the fact “The Haunted Mansion” is only maudlin and not aggravatingly terrible isn’t enough to give it passing marks. Murphy stars as Jim Evers, one half of Evers & Evers Real Estate with his wife Sara (Marsha Thomason, “Black Knight”), and he’s an arrogantly slapdash salesman obsessed with making that next sale. Sara’s upset with her husband for spending too much time working and not enough time helping raise their two kids, especially after he blows off their anniversary to meet with a couple of potential new clients. To make it up to her, Jim promises to take the whole family to the lake for the weekend. But when Sara gets invited to the fabled Gracie mansion to meet with the owner, the male half of the Evers agency can’t help but make them all stop at the estate on their way out of town. Soon, they’re dining with Mr. Gracie (Nathaniel Parker, “Othello”) himself, Jim drooling all over the dilapidated manor's sales potential. But nothing is quite what it seems, and when the family is stranded in the mansion due to a thunderous rainstorm it becomes apparent their host and his staff aren’t altogether corporeal. In fact, Gracie has his ghostly eyes fixed squarely on the beautiful Sara, sure she is the reincarnation of his long lost love returned to end the curse that has stranded he and his staff on the mortal plain. It’s now up to Jim and his children to find the secret behind the curse and release the truth, thus saving Sara from a supernatural union with their vaporous host. Simple enough, and really there isn’t anything too desperately wrong with this scenario. If anything, I liked that Berenbaum grounded “The Haunted Mansion” in such haughty details as right and wrong, life and death, and truth and lies. In a way, it harks back to old school Disney where choices had consequences, and family movies were not afraid to bring up a sensitive subject or two – in this case interracial romance – giving children the benefit of the doubt that they and their parents were mature enough to discuss and handle them together. If only the adventure he’s wrapped the issues up in were more interesting. The film plods from one scene to the next with mechanical precision, Minkoff trying desperately to camouflage the script’s alphabetic structure with as much visual razzle-dazzle as he can muster. Even Murphy seems lost, mugging his way through scene after scene with a wide-eyed exuberance bordering on the vexatious. It’s all very flat, devoid of any sort of emotional attachment that could make it work. If anything, there is a television sitcom banality to it all, a humdrum been there/done that vibe that is completely inescapable and only missing a laugh track to be complete. Still, unlike recent Murphy failures like “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” or “I Spy,” “The Haunted Mansion” isn’t a total wipeout. Marc John Jeffers (“Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle”) and Aree Davis – in her feature debut – are perfect as the Evers’ two aggravated children, while Tilly almost rolls off with the movie as a psychic gypsy who’s head resides in a sea of green mist swirling within a crystal ball. Minkoff and Berenbaum fit many of the ride’s more memorable aspects, including the ghoulish waltz and the stone-faced barbershop quartet, into the picture as well, slipping them in much more nicely than I imagined possible. There is also a splendidly macabre chase through a creepy mausoleum, Murphy and the kids being pursued by what must be the ghastliest set of zombies to ever grace a Disney movie. This moment more than any other crystallizes the type of picture “The Haunted Mansion” could have been, making the unrelenting banality of everything else around it that much more difficult to bear. If only it were all more interesting and not so pedestrian. While there are some great ideas floating around in Berenbaum’s script, the author just couldn’t seem to put them down on paper in a way we haven’t seen a hundred times before. And while Minkoff knows how to make his camera whirl and twirl, it all seems like so much smoke and mirrors to hide the fact nothing is going on behind the movie’s antique doors. As for Murphy, the only thing that seems to be haunted right now is his career, the days of the comedic mastermind long gone seemingly never to be seen again.
Rating:
2 (out of 4) Disney made two films based on theme park rides in 2003: the inventive and entertaining Pirates of the Caribbean ... and this limp comic thriller. The problem here is that, besides referencing the ride, there's nothing to this film. It's basically just another Eddie Murphy family comedy--with very few jokes. When Louisiana estate agents Jim and Sara Evers (Murphy and Thomason) hear that a massive manse is about to go up for sale, it puts increased strain on their marriage. Sara wants the workaholic Jim to spend more time with their kids (Jefferies and Davis). When they stop to look at the house, they get more than they bargained for, as a sudden rainstorm strands them in the massive, creepy mansion with a sinister butler (Stamp) the gothic lord of the manor (Parker) and a couple of twitchy servants (Shawn and Waters). And they'll have to break a centuries-old curse to get out alive! There might be a good movie in the Disneyland ride, but this isn't it. Everything here is belaboured, from the overwrought production design (looks great but there's too much of it) to the overcomplicated plot (makes no sense really). The cast seem adrift, unsure why they're in the movie at all--Murphy just cracks jokes with his usual energetic glee, Stamp snarls perfectly, Tilly is funny as a gypsy in a green orb, and so on. They're all fine, and they thankfully never go over the top. But none of it matters, so it's impossible for the film to generate any suspense at all. Comic thrillers are always risky, but this one lacks even a hint of badly needed black humour. It's far too silly, with a paint-by-numbers plot to connect each unrelated set piece. It's watchable and enjoyable to a degree, but as Minkoff tries harder and harder to crank up the slapstick and suspense, the film lumbers to a halt. It's another case where outtakes during the closing credits would have helped hugely! Consumed by his job as a real-estate broker, Jim Evers (Murphy) makes a detour during a much-needed family holiday to view a mansion, which could be the sale that makes his career. As a storm hits the area, the mansion’s owner Master Gracey (Parker) and his staff make the family welcome, insisting they wait the bad weather out and stay the night. Things are not what they seem however, as it soon becomes clear to Jim and his wife Sara (Thompson) that the Gracey Mansion holds many secrets, both living and dead.
Another Disney Theme Park ride hits the silver screen but this one lacks the soul of a great movie. The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland has always been a firm favourite with visitors but while the movie uses many elements from the attraction, the short time you send on the ride is a lot more entertaining than the eighty-seven minutes you spend watching this film. It is all special effects and no substance at it tries to feel like a spectacle and not a piece of story telling. The supporting cast do their best with the very limited script. Jennifer Tilly provides the laughs as Madame Leota, the all-seeing, magical crystal ball that sends the family off on their quest. Wallace Shawn and Dina Waters do their best with their limited roles by providing a few comedic moments. Brit Marsha Thompson continues to make a name for herself in Hollywood and Marc John Jefferies and Aree Davis are good as the Evers kids. Terence Stamp steals the show however as butler Ramsley. He is suitably creepy and has real fun with the role as he provides quite a few jumps for the audience. Do you remember a time when Eddie Murphy was funny? The man is supposed to be a comedian but in many of his latest movies (not including his voice work for Shrek and Mulan) he has played the straight man and relied on others to provide the laughs. This is another one of those instances as he continues to flow through movies on autopilot so he can pick up his large paycheque. He is turning into one of those stars who just acts for the money and has lost the passion that drew him to show business in the first place. It is extremely hard to imagine Eddie Murphy doing any movie for the challenge of the role, especially if it was low budget, meaning he will never work with the more respected directors and writers and has no chance of ever getting an Oscar. He needs to return to his stand up roots and find his passion again. The Haunted Mansion is all about the spectacle. The special effects and make-up are extremely good throughout. In fact the film is quite scary in parts for younger children, especially during the crypt sequence, which could give any child under the age of seven nightmares for a very long time. This does not make a great movie however as it all falls apart because of the very flimsy plot that is very reminiscent of many films in the genre, especially “The Haunting”. While the special effects are enough to entertain the younger viewer but everyone else will just be glad of the film’s very short running time. The only real nightmare is watching the remnants of Eddie Murphy’s career appearing on screen looking more dead than any zombie could ever do. Star Rating = * * Site Contents Copyright© The Z Review, unless used with permission.This site has no intention to infringe on the rights of the film owners of The Haunted Mansion and intellectual copyright holders of the movies mentioned herein & hold copyright over the movie, characters, merchandise & storyline. |
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