Film: Under The Mountain
Release date: 7th March 2011
Certificate: 12
Running time: 91 mins
Director: Jonathan King
Starring: Tom Cameron, Sophie McBride, Sam Neill, Leon Wadham, Michaela Rooney
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Studio: E1
Format: DVD
Country: New Zealand
This is an English-language release.
Director Jonathan King is perhaps best known for his 2006 horror comedy film Black Sheep, in which a group of blood-thirsty sheep terrorise a New Zealand farm after a genetic engineering experiment goes horribly wrong. The film was funded by the New Zealand Film Commission. For his latest film, King delves into the realms of the children’s fantasy genre and produces Under The Mountain, once again with the help of the New Zealand Film Commission. Under the Mountain is an adaptation of the 1979 novel of the same name by Maurice Gee, which also spawned a TV series in the early 1980s.
Teenage twins, Theo (Tom Cameron) and Rachel (Sophie McBride) have an uncanny ability- they can communicate with each other without talking. When their mother dies unexpectedly, they are sent to live with their aunt and uncle on the shore of Lake Pupuke in Auckland.
The twins are fascinated by the strange looking house across the lake, which is occupied by the sinister Wilberforces. It quickly transpires that the Wilberforces are more than just a little odd - they are shape-shifting creatures with tentacles.
The following day, Theo meets Mr Jones (Sam Neill), who is playing with fireballs on the hilltop. Theo soon discovers that Mr Jones is not actually human after seeing his picture in a book from the 19th century. Mr Jones then reveals that the Wilberforces are aliens who are in league with the evil Gargantua, whom his people trapped underneath Auckland’s volcanoes.
Mr Jones claims that Theo and Rachel’s special power – “twinness” – is exactly what’s needed to defeat the evil creatures. However, Theo doesn’t believe in their power. Mr Jones gives the twins two stones, which when thrown, produce the fire power of his people and tells them that they must use the stones – and their twinness – to destroy the evil before it destroys them...
The television series, Under The Mountain, was largely well-received by children in New Zealand during the 1980s. Sadly, this contemporary remake feels flat in comparison. That is not to say that Jonathan King’s adaptation isn’t beautifully photographed. The aerial shots (of which there are many) of Auckland’s mountains are truly picturesque. However, these shots are used to aid the transition between scenes so frequently that it soon feels as if the film is one long advertisement for the New Zealand tourist board. Even the apartment belonging to Theo and Rachel’s aunt and uncle is thoroughly chic and contemporary.
Whilst it is definitely overused, the scenic photography is perhaps the only good feature that the Under The Mountain possesses. For a fantasy film, there is far too much exposition, as it is not until approximately an hour into the film’s 91 minute running time that characters go under the mountains where evil lurks. The film shows very little regard for the fact that young audiences today are cine-literate, and instead takes them by the hand and leads them on a heavily signposted journey through the narrative, telling them what to think every step of the way. For example, a close-up of a television news report states that there is unlikely to be any volcanic activity and that there is “no cause for alarm.” However, this is immediately undercut by an image of a volcano with sinister music over the top.
In addition to this, it’s clear that the purpose of the film’s dialogue is solely to aid this exposition and drive the narrative forwards. It’s clunky and unnatural as the characters don’t seem to talk about anything that isn’t directly related to the plot. The poorly scripted dialogue certainly does nothing to aid the performances of the teenage protagonists. Under The Mountain marks the debut screen appearances of both Tom Cameron and Sophie McBride as Theo and Rachel and it certainly shows. McBride gives a particularly stilted performance; her grief on learning that her mother has died is barely apparent. She also fails to look surprised when Mr Jones reveals his unusual fire-throwing powers.
However, the film’s forces of evil don’t fare much better. The Wilberforces are, for the most part, about as menacing as a child’s Halloween costume and engage in bizarre dialogue with the twins. Mr Wilberforce tells them that he wants to “make them dead” and “observe them to die.” Perhaps this is to reinforce the idea that they originate from another planet which existed millions of years ago, but the overall effect is jarring and irritating.
Moreover, the special effects are far from spectacular. The characters’ main source of power with which to fight evil is basically a large pebble which shoots fire. Although faithful to the original story, this doesn’t translate well into a feature film and simply can’t compete with the majority of special effects that are present within contemporary fantasy films. Also, it is worth noting that the stones are made to seem all the more unimpressive by the fact that they don’t have a fantastical name: Mr Jones refers to them as “stones with an indescribable power” and, as with much of the story, this is never elaborated upon.
Under The Mountain is a predictable and simplistic film which patronises its target audience. Thanks to modern technology, the fantasy film is continually evolving; films such as Pan’s Labyrinth have proven that they can be visually spectacular and also an engaging and complex narrative: Under The Mountain does neither. Regardless of their age, contemporary cinemagoers expect – and deserve – a great deal from the fantasy genre. Sadly, Under The Mountain fails to deliver. SH
No comments:
Post a Comment