James and the Giant Peach

Starring: Paul Terry, Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margolyes, Pete Postlethwaite, Simon Callow (voice), Richard Dreyfuss (voice), Jane Leeves (voice), Susan Sarandon (voice), David Thewlis (voice), Mike Starr
Directed by: Henry Selick
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Adventure
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After his parents die, James (Paul Terry) lives a miserable life with his horrible aunts (Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margolyes). His fortunes change, however, when a mysterious man (Pete Postlethwaite) offers him a magical gift.

Review:

Tim: I can't say I was a big fan of these Tim Burton-produced stop motion animated movies of the 1990s. The Nightmare Before Christmas receives more of the acclaim, but that and this one both have similar flaws. I should note that I've never read Roald Dahl's book (I'll likely resolve that soon) so I went into this film without any preconceived notions. As such, I found the film to be fine- decent in most senses, but never that good.

I have to say that I just didn't have much of an enjoyable time watching this movie. It surprises me that kids would. We get a quick scene showing James and his parents happy, and then the misery sets in. It surprised me how dark and difficult this film was. His two aunts are clearly abusive and their cackling, the makeup, the miserable life James leads all are shown fairly vividly for a children's film. It's a lot to take in. I watched this movie with my 7 year-old son and he was fairly overwhelmed in the beginning (to be fair, he rallied and ended up liking the movie a lot). He liked it more than I did. It wasn't much fun seeing James' awful life depicted on screen. Then, when his fortunes seem to change and he gets a chance at a redemptive adventure, his friends are a collection of insects. It's fine and I'm sure in line with Dahl's book, but watching a centipede, spider, worm, and other large insects doesn't exactly seem like a good time in my book. The puppets used to bring them to life aren't cute and cuddly- they are hard and unpleasant. I'm not suggesting kids' movies need to always be filled with light and happiness, but it felt like a bit much for me here. I can't say at any point in watching this movie was it fun or enjoyable. It was interesting. It had some nice sequences and tense moments, but I never actually liked the film. That isn't terrible in such a short film (1 hour, 19 minutes only), but it still doesn't establish any kind of goodwill or connection to the story.

The best part of the film for me was the voice cast. Richard Dreyfuss has such a perfect voice and I loved what he did to it for Centipede. I had to almost close my eyes to tell it was him. I thought his work was exceptional and undoubtedly the highlight. Susan Sarandon did a solid job bringing Spider to life and while I didn't care about Earthworm, it was fun to see David Thewlis voicing him. It's always fun seeing Pete Postlewaite and I appreciated his small but effective performance. It was fun seeing Mike Starr show up for a few moments at the end. I thought Joanna Lumley and Miriam Margolyes were too over-the-top and unnecessarily unpleasant. I'd contrast their performances with the work done in Hocus Pocus- those actresses delivered villainous performances that felt appropriately silly and enjoyable even as they were menacing. Lumley and Margolyes are awful, yes, and not much fun to watch. Paul Terry did a decent job as James. He didn't seem like an especially strong actor, but you can see the effort he put forth.

The stop motion animation is impressive and there are some moments that were fairly entertaining. The venture into the pirate ship felt like a standout to me. The bird lassoing with the mechanical shark felt quite thrilling. I wasn't a fan of the puppet design, but I recognize the technical challenge of bringing this film to life and I applaud it.

The film was nominated for 1 Academy Award, for Best Music, Original Music or Comedy Score. I was a little surprised when I saw that, but I didn't have any issues with the score, so I guess that's okay? It feels like the movie should have been better and received more nominations.

I thought James and the Giant Peach was a decent movie for sure. It's technically impressive. The problem is that it was never enjoyable to me. My son did end up liking the movie and gave it some praise when it ended. I can see how he would get caught up in the exciting conclusion. For me, it was mostly relief that it was over. It's a decent film, but not one I have any interest in ever seeing again.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Nightmare Before Christmas