Given Hollywood's over-reliance on novels and comic books to come up with new stories lately, it was inevitable that Jonathan Swift's epic would soon be adapted on-screen. Though what Rob Letterman came up with was an unexpected amalgamation of the 18th century tale with 20th century culture. Ofcourse the end result left an unexpectedly sour taste in the mouth. The 20th century version of Gulliver's Travels tracks the journey of Lemuel Gulliver, a mailman in a magazine, to Liliput and back in an attempt to appease and woo his lady love. It's a typical Jack Black comic movie with lots of gaffes and very gags. However, unlike School of Rock, this time it fails big time.
Unfortunately, there's nothing much to talk about this movie. It has it's moments, but overall it's a very shallow plot which has reduced an all time classic to a bit of a joke. The story jumps a few steps ahead in many places leaving the viewer clueless. Most of the performances are pretty flat (expected a bit more from Jason Segel). The idea of having the Liliputians talking in a mock old English sing-song accent looks good initially but gets cumbersome over time. Jack Black is his usual exuberant self and is the only saving grace of the movie.
There are a few funny moments which I won't reveal at the risk of giving away the only funny moments to those who still want to watch the movie. Overall, this movie is a massive snooze fest and I would rather that Gulliver goes on his travels alone this time than having us watch them. This could have been a much better movie given the concept that Letterman has applied. However, as it is, it's one adventure to avoid.
