Review - Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels - When travel writer extrodnier Lemuel Gulliver, takes an assignment to Bermuda, he unexpectedly ends up in the Kingdom of Lilliput, where he towers over its tiny citizens, like a big hairy beast.


















Hello Film Fans, and welcome to my newest film review, which is the 2010 version of Gulliver's Travels. based off the travels of the real Lumuel Gulliver in a novel by Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift, it is Swift's best known full-length work, and a classic of English literature.

SPOILER ALERT:  As I talk about the film, there will be a few spoilers. so if your one of those people who doesn't like films to spoiled before you see them, I suggest you watch the film as soon as possible and then read this review afterwards.

This film was released in the USA on the 25th of December 2010 and released in the UK on the 26th of December 2010.

This film is about a normal slow working guy called Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black) who lives in New York, and has been working in the mail room of the New York daily newspaper for the past ten years.

He doesn't have a lot of confidence in himself to go and put himself out there, he considers himself to be at the bottom of the heap and just thinks it is ok to stay there. Though One day, after becoming fed up with his normal lifestyle, he decides to confront himself to the girl he's had a crush on all his time he's been working in the mail room Darcy Silverman. (Amanda Peet)

Darcey is the newspaper's travel editor, and rather than chicken out at the last minute, Gulliver instead tells her that he'd like to try his hand out in writing a column. Darcy accepts and sends him on an assignment to the Bermuda Triangle. There, Gulliver gets caught up in a whirlpool and becomes shipwrecked and ends up on the island of Lilliput, where he is twelve taller than the tallest man. And for the first time in his life, it is there that Gulliver has people looking up to him, literally.

He becomes immensely popular with the King (Billy Connolly) his wife the Queen (Catherine Tate) and their daughter the Princess Mary (Emily Blunt) and all of the townsfolk, he also makes 1 friend there, Horatio (Jason Segel) however there is one person in Lilliput who can see through Gulliver like clean glass and that is General Edward (Chris O'Dowd) and Edward will stop at nothing to prove that Gulliver is nothing but a fraud.



It is then Edward is rejected by his Lilliputian brethren, and forms an alliance with the enemy forces of Perfusia and Edward manages to expose Gulliver for what he is in front of everyone who belived in him. Gulliver is banished to 'the island where we dare not go' and Lilliput is invaded by the Perfuison forces and Lilliput becomes New Perfusia.

Ashamed of being found out, Gulliver hides out in his new habitat, whilst Darcey who has come to complete the assignment herself after Gulliver goes missing is captured by Edward and his forces. Gulliver is forced to return to Lilliput by Horatio, and Gulliver gains the trust of his beloved little friends and gains the respect of Darcey.

Gulliver then challenges Edward to another duel and wins, winning back the title of Lilliput to the Kingdom.
Gulliver then returns to New York with Darcey and they live happily ever after. Its a simple cliche fairy tale ending.



I think that this film, is a fun packed family adventure that anyone can enjoy, children to the age of 5 - Grandma's of the age of 85. Gulliver's Travels is jam packed with awsome guest stars, which is partly what makes it such an enjoyable film to watch. It is is a light, enjoyable comedy but is jam packed with thrill and adventure.

I thought that Jack Black was inspired casting, and don't misjudge the way he acts for the real Lumuel Gulliver in the Swift novel. I liked how Jack's Gulliver and the Gulliver in the novel where two different people. I thought that it worked well, and Jack Black dilivered to the best of his ablities, but then again Jack Black always dilvers a role in an essecentric way. because that's how he is.

I thought the rest of the guest cast were splendid, it was great to see people like Billy Connolly, Catherine Tate, Emily Blunt, James Cordon, Chris O'Dowd and Jason Segal all acting in a film together, it just made it a bit more special for me.

I also approved of Chris O'Dowd being a baddie, though one can judge the performance as being a pantomime performance, it is a family adventure after all. he can't be overly devious and threatening, you have to be able to belive in the role he is playing with not a lot of seriousness, because if you take Chris O'Dowd too seriously that just defeats the purpose of what he is trying to do.



Rob Latterman's direction was very well comminicated, through his marvoulous effects and green screening and to the way things were done, so I liked the effects and the direction a lot, it was very well done.

Overall this film was great. I loved it, it's a fun packed familt adventure which allows the family to let their imaginations run freely. 

I am going to give this film a 6/10.

1 Gold Star to Jack Black
1 Gold Star to Chris O'Dowd

My next reviews over the next couple of days this week will be 'The Hangover Trilogy' starting with Hangover 1, and that review will be posted on Wednesday the 29th of May 2013.