Does anyone remember that television series from the mid 1980s featuring the characters from WIND IN THE WILLOWS ? That`s the series featuring fine actors like Michael Hordern and David Jason voicing the characters who are represented as puppets . It was a superb series according to my memory and this cynical reviewer would probably still sit down to watch it if it was on television today
This live action version of WIND IN THE WILLOWS collapses on many levels more so if you`ve seen the aforementioned series . First of all the big name cast fail to resemble lovable fluffy animals in any way and it`s very easy to forget why they`re called Mole , Badger , Toad etc so instead of humanising animals ( A traditional concept in childrens fiction ) Terry Jones has done the opposite and animalised humans . It`s very irritating the way the cast tend to mug for the audience at every opportunity which does gives the feeling the film is talking down to the child audience , and whose big bad idea was it to include songs ? This ruins the appearence of the story`s villains - the weasels which totally contradicts story convention of always having the bad guys treated seriously . No matter what genre you`re writing the bad guys must always be treated with respect . If the writer doesn`t take the bad guys seriously there`s no way the audience can either . Imagine a James Bond movie where the evil mad man who wants to take over the world is played by Jim Carrey doing his usual Jerry Lewis on acid spiel . That`s how menacing the weasels are in this movie , a movie that wears out its welcome very quickly
This live action version of WIND IN THE WILLOWS collapses on many levels more so if you`ve seen the aforementioned series . First of all the big name cast fail to resemble lovable fluffy animals in any way and it`s very easy to forget why they`re called Mole , Badger , Toad etc so instead of humanising animals ( A traditional concept in childrens fiction ) Terry Jones has done the opposite and animalised humans . It`s very irritating the way the cast tend to mug for the audience at every opportunity which does gives the feeling the film is talking down to the child audience , and whose big bad idea was it to include songs ? This ruins the appearence of the story`s villains - the weasels which totally contradicts story convention of always having the bad guys treated seriously . No matter what genre you`re writing the bad guys must always be treated with respect . If the writer doesn`t take the bad guys seriously there`s no way the audience can either . Imagine a James Bond movie where the evil mad man who wants to take over the world is played by Jim Carrey doing his usual Jerry Lewis on acid spiel . That`s how menacing the weasels are in this movie , a movie that wears out its welcome very quickly