On November 18, Netflix presented the new blockbuster “Marevokrai”. The plot of this adventure tale is based on the comic book series Little Nemo in Slumberland by the American cartoonist Winsor McKay. In the review below, we tell you what to expect from the film.
“Marevokrai” / Slumberland
Genre adventure fantasy, comedy, family
Directed by Francis Lawrence
Starring Marlowe Barclay, Jason Momoa, Chris O’Dowd, Veruce Opiah, Kyle Chandler
Netflix premiere
Release year 2022
IMDb site
11-year-old girl Nemo lives with her dad Peter at the lighthouse. Every night before going to bed, he tells his daughter different interesting stories. But one day dad is forced to respond to a distress signal coming from a ship during a storm. And in the morning, Nemo wakes up and learns that his father has died. Now she has to move to the city to live with her reclusive uncle Philip, who is not interested in anything except the doorknobs that his company sells.
One day, the young heroine sees a strange dream and meets the eccentric pro-delight Flip. He tells that you can make a wish if you reach a magic pearl hidden at the bottom of the ocean. Thus, Nemo will try to complete this mission at any cost to see his dad again. She joins forces with Flip and plunges into a series of bizarre and dangerous adventures in the land of dreams. However, for this she will need to constantly look for the first and best opportunity to fall asleep.
It seems that the famous director Francis Lawrence has completely softened by the age of 51. He used to start with such gloomy stories as “Constantine” and “I am a legend”. Then for a while he got stuck in the very successful teenage dystopia “Hunger Games”, and now he got to completely innocent children’s material. His “Marevokrai” is a reinterpretation of a comic published at the beginning of the last century. But at the same time, this is a story of a purely Disney style, which was created according to all the canons of bright high-budget fairy tales.
Local screenwriters David Guyon and Michael Handelman previously worked on unpretentious comedies such as “Dinner with Jerks.” Therefore, it is doubly surprising that “Marevokrai” is not able to entertain well, because the humor here is somehow too cautious. However, the main bet is on colorful and large-scale special effects. It looks like a trip to the “multiverse of madness” for the little ones, where danger seems to exist, but does not pose a real threat.
The authors offer a fantastic flight on a huge goose, an escape from the local “ghost patrol” and even a ride on a garbage truck through a suspiciously empty city. At the same time, all these adventures are unlikely to be breathtaking, especially for adults, but it is quite interesting to watch them. The main star of this trip, which is not surprising, turns out to be Jason Momoa. His Flip can boast the charisma of Jack Sparrow, the hip style of Willy Wonka, and the paunch of Thor Odinson from the Thanos days. It’s clear that Momoa had a good time on the set.
As it often happens in fairy tales, the adventures of the little heroine of “Marevokrai” are metaphorical. Because her dreams are an escape from the gloomy reality due to the inability to cope with a great loss. Therefore, a happy ending is, of course, mandatory here, but before that, Nemo must go through a series of tests and overcome himself first of all. In the original source, by the way, the main character was a boy, but this is not so important. There is also a character evolution in the character of Chris O’Dowd, but this reincarnation plays a secondary role.
As a result, this bright blockbuster is a rather exciting journey not only into something unknown, but also into the inner world of the main characters. And it also becomes obvious that Jason Momoa somehow prefers to act in films that feature lighthouses. Who knows, maybe he is trying to realize some secret dream or dream. And what dreams do you see?
Pros: relaxed fairy-tale atmosphere, cheerful Momoa, moderately interesting adventures, funny shoes of Flip Cons: few funny jokes, typical plot, unexpected sound of an air alarm in one of the scenes, which makes you tense up and check where it’s buzzing from Conclusion:
“Marevokray” can be a good joint pastime with children, but the movie clearly does not pretend to be anything more. Probably, it is not worth demanding something more serious from such a film. And even in our difficult times, such good stories will definitely not be superfluous
