Labyrinth (1986)

While searching the web for a musical that wasn't too long --which is basically an impossible task since most musicals last more than two hours-- I stumbled upon Labyrinth. I had never heard of it before but I did see pictures of David Bowie from this movie which is why I ended up watching it. 

The story follows Sarah (Jennifer Connelly), a teenager with a very vivid imagination. When her father (Christopher Malcolm) and stepmother (Shelley Thompson) go out and leave her to babysit her stepbrother, Toby (Toby Froud), she is so annoyed with his continuous crying that she wishes the goblins would take him away. Which they do and Sarah must solve the Goblin King's (David Bowie) labyrinth before midnight or else Toby will become a goblin.

The plot is very simple and far from being great, meaning that it kind of comes out of nowhere, it develops too fast and yet it takes too much time to get to the ending. Also, it isn't very original as it has some elements of The Wizard of Oz. And yet, as flawed as it is, the plot still manages to be interesting and entertaining. 

Also quite interesting are the characters Labyrinth is filled with. At the beginning, Sarah is an innocent but immature and spoiled brat who only cares about herself and finds herself in an Alice in Wonderland kind of scenario, but, as the movie moves forward, she becomes this mature, no longer selfish young woman as she learns many life lessons. A very young Jeniffer Connelly does a wonderful job in the leading role. She is so lovely and makes all the interactions with the fantasy creatures look so natural! Hoggle, the coward and stubborn goblin is quite an interesting guy, and Ludo, a hairy monster that looks like Chewbacca, is cute and lovable. 

TriStar Pictures

However, the character that truly stands out is the villain, the Goblin King, the reason obviously being David Bowie. He is simply wonderful. He is evil and menacing and yet so humorous and charming, it's hard to decide whether to hate him or to love him. Also, whenever he starts singing, which happens very often, it's an incredible joy.

Labyrinth also has some pretty solid special effects. While they do look dated and you can often spot the use of the green screen, they still are quite charming and add some magic to the film. The owl, for example, although it looks cheap compared to today's standards, is very impressive.

There is one thing that about Labyrinth that quite disappointed me, the fact that it isn't really a musical. There are just some weird musical numbers that don't advance the plot, nor add anything to the film, they are just there to give David Bowie the chance to sing. While I love listening to Bowie sing, it just didn't make sense to me.