Sarah is a dreamy-eyed teenager whose father remarried and had a baby boy named
Toby. One night, Sarah grows tired of having been pressed into the "unfair" duty
of being a babysitter once again for her little brother. She makes a fateful
wish to the Goblin King to spirit Toby away forever. But there’s a major
problem: her wish is granted and little Toby is abducted by the legions of
goblins under the Goblin King’s command. When Sarah confronts the Goblin King in
an attempt to get Toby back, he gives her a chance to do so, but only if Sarah
can solve the riddle of the Labyrinth. If she can get through it within a
certain amount of time, she’ll get Toby back. If not, then Toby stays with the
Goblins forever.
Yet Sarah soon finds that getting through the Labyrinth is a lot easier said
than done. Her path is fraught with all manner of weird denizens and dangers
including the Wild Gang, and the constant threat of the dreaded Bog Of Eternal
Stench. But Sarah also finds some staunch allies in her quest, as well. There’s
the grumpy dwarf Hoggle, who really has it in for fairies; Ludo, a gentle giant
with a command of rocks and stones, and Sir Didymas, a combat-loving Yorkie
whose steed is a cowardly--but loveable--English Sheepdog.
Written by Monty Python’s Terry Jones, executive produced by George Lucas, and
directed by the late Muppet Master Jim Henson, Labyrinth certainly had a high
pedigree of filmmakers working behind the scenes, and it shows. It remains a fun
fantasy film that still holds up twenty years after its original release. Part
of its charm comes from its leading lady, a young Jennifer Connelly, who shines
as Sarah, showing the acting chops that would one day earn her an Academy Award
(for her role in A Beautiful Mind). Rocker David Bowie is appropriately exotic
as the Goblin King--he’s probably one of the few actors who can seriously pull
off being large and in charge in a room filled with Muppets.
The special features include a marvelous ‘making of’ featurette, "Inside The
Labyrinth", (which has a surprise for fans of Star Trek) as well several photo
galleries, including a vintage poster gallery. The film does have one drawback
for me: Sarah’s musical encounter with the "Wild Gang" is pretty lame--not only
is the song awful, but the scene overall just doesn’t look right, and feels out
of place in the film. Yet the imaginative storyline, populated with realistic
characters (even some of the more fantastical creatures--such as Hoggle--are
performed so well that they come off as being "real people"), creative
conceptual design by artist Brian Froud (whose infant son plays the role of
Toby) and a very sly sense of humor makes Labyrinth a modern day classic that’s
extremely enjoyable to watch over and over again.
--SF
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