There is always something special in the first cinematic feature of a certain Director. This is not the first film of Terry Gilliam but it is the first movie he does by himself. It has that "Pythonesque" feeling in It and we have a splendid performance by Michael Palin and a few funny cameos by Terry Jones and Gilliam himself. I really think that Gilliam is one of the very few human beings in this planet that can turn a short nonsense poem into an feature film. I personally loved the monster, It was rather close to the famous illustration by Lewis Carroll.
Give it a try, It's Gilliam, goddamit!
Terry Gilliam's follow-up to Monty Python and the Holy Grail - and very loose adaptation of the Lewis Carroll poem - Jabberwocky isn't really up to either comparison. Imagine the "Bring out your dead" scene extended to feature length, with a big monster at the end, and you have a fairly good idea of what to expect. I can see how it's supposed to be amusing to watch Michael Palin fall into the situations afforded by a Dark Ages comedy, but I find it tonally dissonant. The slapstick gags are like something out of Tati, if Tati reveled in gore. It's just too violent to be funny in the way it hopes to be, and frequently ghoulish. What saves it is the cinematography. Yes, it's 100% commits to Gilliam's notion of a past smeared with grime, but I like how the jousting is shot, and that final battle is great. But overall, screamy and screechy, and more than a little bit disjointed. Much better films lay ahead.
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radoslav1948
There is always something special in the first cinematic feature of a certain Director. This is not the first film of Terry Gilliam but it is the first movie he does by himself. It has that "Pythonesque" feeling in It and we have a splendid performance by Michael Palin and a few funny cameos by Terry Jones and Gilliam himself. I really think that Gilliam is one of the very few human beings in this planet that can turn a short nonsense poem into an feature film. I personally loved the monster, It was rather close to the famous illustration by Lewis Carroll.Give it a try, It's Gilliam, goddamit!
Siskoid
Terry Gilliam's follow-up to Monty Python and the Holy Grail - and very loose adaptation of the Lewis Carroll poem - Jabberwocky isn't really up to either comparison. Imagine the "Bring out your dead" scene extended to feature length, with a big monster at the end, and you have a fairly good idea of what to expect. I can see how it's supposed to be amusing to watch Michael Palin fall into the situations afforded by a Dark Ages comedy, but I find it tonally dissonant. The slapstick gags are like something out of Tati, if Tati reveled in gore. It's just too violent to be funny in the way it hopes to be, and frequently ghoulish. What saves it is the cinematography. Yes, it's 100% commits to Gilliam's notion of a past smeared with grime, but I like how the jousting is shot, and that final battle is great. But overall, screamy and screechy, and more than a little bit disjointed. Much better films lay ahead.