Movie Review: Gulliver's Travels

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

The story was based on Jonathan Swift's classic tale of the same name starring Jack Black. But with a re-imagined, contemporary setting. following the footsteps of Jules Vernes' Journey To The Center of The Earth(with Brendan Fraser) and H.G. Well's War of The Worlds(with Tom Cruise). The 1700's setting of Swift's tale is replaced in a present-day New York setting. The only thing that didn't change is the kingdom of Lilliput, composed of tiny people. If you are familiar with Swift's story it was far different to this one because a story with Jack Black in a leading role has a different approach. As a loyal to the original Swift story, I can't compare it with the movie because though it may look the same, it still differs. Swift story is more of a satire while Jack Black's movie is nothing like it. If you apply Swift's original story, it will take more than this movie to cover it. As expected of a Jack Black movie is his own kind of humor minus the profanity and vulgarity because the movie is targeting the general audience. But Jack Black still has his Tenacious D attitude. The movie is also good in 3D. In addition to Gulliver's Travels, be sure to not to miss the animated short flick from the Ice Age world featuring Scratte just before the actual movie. Gulliver's Travels opens January 8 in 35mm and 3D formats from 20th Century Fox and is distributed by Warner Bros.

UNCHARTED VISUAL 3D EFFECTS IN GULLIVER’S TRAVELS

Jack Black as Lemuel Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels

Jack Black steps in on Jonathan Swift’s fantastical story of the seafaring adventurer Gulliver in “Gulliver’s Travels.”  The story takes Gulliver to the elusive Bermuda spot who discovers the land of Lilliput where the inhabitants are tiny.  The book was since heralded as a brilliant satire on human behavior when it was first published in 1726. Since then, the story of Gulliver’s Travels has captured the public’s imagination for almost three hundred years.

In the latest spin of today’s movie wonders, Jack Black who stars and serves as executive producer in “Gulliver’s Travels” brings the story with humongous fun laden with superb 3D visual effects.  

Noted visual effects house hy*drau”lx (“2012”) worked closely with Rob Letterman on the CG ‘bot design and execution.  Also making critical contributions to the world of Lilliput was premier visual effects house WETA Digital, which won Oscars for its groundbreaking work on “Avatar,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “King Kong”.  Here, too, the robot design married the modern with the less-so. “Part of the original concept of the robot was to have its contemporary design accompany a Victorian-era technology,” says hy*drau”lx’s Erik Liles.  “This gave rise to the more mechanical aspects of the robot’s locomotion – its gears and pulleys system.” 

The visual effects wizards at hy*drau”lx didn’t make things easy for themselves.  Since the filmmakers continued to sort through these challenges and put the final CG touches on their creation well into the post-production process, during production Jack Black found himself battling a junior-sized version – a robot suit worn by a stuntman. This allowed Black to interact with the robot during filming, helping both the actor and visual effects team map out the no-holds-barred contest we see onscreen.

The entire cast – robot included – appreciated not only the talents of Jack Black the Actor, but the work ethic and dedication to the project from Jack Black, the Executive Producer.  The latter was a stern taskmaster for actor Black during some of the film’s action set pieces. For a scene where Gulliver singlehandedly battles the Blefuscian armada, high-speed cameras captured Black, who stripped to the waist and jiggled his bare torso to simulate the effects of hundreds of miniature cannonballs slamming into Gulliver’s stomach, making waves in his flesh. 

Even when things were relatively calm in Lilliput, and Black wasn’t before the cameras, he was on set everyday to feed his lines to his cast mates who were acting to Gulliver’s eye line. With over half the film set against enormous green screens situated on massive soundstages, Black’s line readings were invaluable to the other actors.

Also essential in assisting the actors, as well as creating a cohesive and relatable world, was a groundbreaking camera known as the DualMoCo (the “MoCo” is for motion control), which was used extensively for the first time on “Gulliver’s Travels.”  The DualMoCo utilized complex computer technology and synchronized camera cranes to capture, in real time, the bigger-than-life Gulliver and the tiny Lilliputians in the same scene, despite the characters’ enormous height differential. While Black was in one area of the soundstage, performing against a green screen, the actors portraying the Lilliputians would be on another part of the stage, acting “opposite” Black.  Adds producer Gregory Goodman:  “On screen, you’ll see Jack speaking with a character who’s a tiny fraction of Gulliver’s size. The aim in using the DualMoCo was to make the effect look real and yet like nothing you’ve seen before.”

            “Gulliver’s Travels” opens January 8 (Saturday) in theaters in 3D and 35mm formats in all theaters from 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

NO SMALL JOBS FOR JACK BLACK

Jack Black in Gulliver's Travels

Jack Black stars in the heartwarming family 3D comedy “Gulliver’s Travels” as Lemuel Gulliver, a very imaginative clerk in a newspaper’s mailroom who dreams of being a travel writer someday.  Black’s Lemuel Gulliver, is a small man in a big pond -- the monstrous canyons of Manhattan, where he toils in a clerical position at a newspaper. He talks a big game, but he’s achieved very little because he is always afraid he will fail. After Gulliver convinced the travel editor Darcy (Amanda Peet) for whom he has a long-time crush into an assignment writing about the Bermuda Triangle, he goes there only to be transported to an undiscovered land, Lilliput. 

In this fantastical new world, Gulliver is, at last, a bigger-than-life figure -- in size and ego – especially after he starts telling tall tales, taking credit for his world’s greatest inventions, and placing himself at the center of its most historic events.  But when Gulliver loses it all and puts the Lilliputians in peril, he must find a way to undo the damage. 

Ultimately, Gulliver becomes a true giant among men only when he learns that it’s how big you are on the

inside that counts.  Jack Black further narrates in the following q&a on filming Gulliver’s.

Q:         What is your character Gulliver like?

A:         “He’s always aspiring for something bigger and better. But he doesn’t have the courage to put himself out there. Fear is his obstacle. But once he gets to Lilliput, he’s like a king.  In New York, Gulliver feels really small and wants to do big things, but he’s afraid to make it happen.  When he lands in Lilliput, he starts to feel really big, but it’s a feeling based on false pretenses.”

Q:         Are you familiar with the book when you were a kid?

A:         “I was fond of the story when I was a kid.  But I never read the unabridged version back then; it’s pretty dense material.  It’s only fairly recently that I read the actual book. Once they offered it to me, I said yes, and then I read the book and it was a double yes.”

Q:         How did you adapt the movie for this generation?          

A:         “There is a lot of material in the book that didn’t make it into the movie because there are some very spicy passages.  It gets pretty violent and graphic. The original piece is not really for kids; it was a satire for adults.”

Q:         Has having children changed you?

A:         “It is extremely rewarding and challenging. They are magical creatures and I love them to death. You need to spend time with them. You can’t just go and work on the computer—you need to give them attention and listen to them and play with them and those crazy pretending games take a lot of energy.”

Q:         In the movie, Gulliver relished much fame, are you like him?

 A:        “It is always fun to meet new people who have enjoyed my work. Sometimes it can be exhausting if you have had a long day and what would take one minute ends up taking an hour because you have to sign pictures and talk to people but for the most part it is very gratifying. I like it because I am always being thanked and high fived, there is a lot of positivity coming my way.”

            Black who also serves as the movie’s executive producer will soon be seen in “Kung Fu Panda 2,” “The Big Year” and “Bernie.”  His numerous hit movies include “School of Rock,” “Tropic Thunder,” “Nacho Libre,” “King Kong,” “Bob Roberts,” “High Fidelity,” “Saving Silverman,” “Shallow Hal,” “Orange County, “Envy,” “Shark Tale,” “The Holiday,” 2000’s independent drama “Jesus’ Son” and “Margot at the Wedding.” 

            “Gulliver’s Travels” opens January 8 in (Phils.) theaters from 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.