by Valerie Rojas
Staff Writer
Disney is attempting to maintain its status as the leaders in the children’s feature genre, with its newest release “The Haunted Mansion,” which hit theaters Nov 26.
“The Haunted Mansion” is high-budget, well-produced fluff based on the attraction of the same name at Disneyland.
Though the film is enjoyable, it has a bland quality that has characterized the contemporary Disney features.
While the plot is fun, creating a story around an attraction at an amusement park is a gamble at best.
While last summer’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” was a success in many ways, “The Haunted Mansion” falls flat.
The story revolves around the death of the fiancée of the mansion’s ghostly owner and his attempt to be reunited with his lost love.
Leading man Eddie Murphy plays a bumbling workaholic real estate salesman who lets his profession lead him and his family into a house filled with cobwebs, ghouls and spirits aplenty.
Murphy stays in character throughout, but the role seems forced and out of place for the once vulgar funny man.
The overall acting is silly and aimed toward a younger audience. However, the film in its entirety is not.
Even though the film is silly and meant to be fun, it is rather grisly in places. There are scenes not appropriate for children under 13.
Computer generated ghosts are one thing, but rotting corpses and the walking dead are another.
The butler, played by British veteran Terrance Stamp, previously seen in “Superman 2” and “Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace,” gives the most intriguing performance.
His thick accent and ominous demeanor make him interesting to watch.
The film overall is shot well, choreographed well, and keeps the audience’s attention.
The down points are occasional bad acting and out of place physical humor.
At its essence, this is a children’s film that is not right for young children, and a pre-teen film that is too childish for pre-teens.
Parents might sit through it, but overall, it is one of the more forgettable Disney films.
