A young girl enters a world of dreams and makes friends with an eccentric outlaw in Slumberland – and it’s a fun and heartfelt adventure.
Francis Lawrence isn’t exactly the filmmaker you’d expect to helm a family fantasy adventure. His work on features began with Constantine and the Will Smith-led I Am Legend (two films you probably wouldn’t show to children) and then gets closer to family friendly fare with the last three Hunger Games movies. But Slumberland – adapted from the comic strip Little Nemo In Slumberland – is a real success.
As a fantasy story, it’s rather on the generic side, filled with familiar beats, but at its core it’s a genuine, lovely film with an emotional message.
After she suddenly loses her dad, young Nemo (Marlow Barkley) goes to live with her well meaning yet clueless uncle. That part is played by Chris O’Dowd, continuing his very successful run of roles that are both awkward and incredibly boring – deliberately so. Used to living in a remote lighthouse, her days full of wild stories and practical education, Nemo struggles to acclimatise to her new life in the city. Then she finds an unexpected escape, and a new companion, in her dreams.
As she snoozes she runs into Flip, an eccentric, charismatic outlaw looking for a map to a fabled treasure. Nemo realises this treasure might be the only thing that’ll allow her to see her father again, and the two work together to recover it.
Flip’s a bit of a lone wolf character and Jason Momoa is clearly having the time of his life in the role. He makes his performance as energetic and big as possible, and that perfectly accompanies the ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ attitude the crew took towards the character design.
For the majority of the runtime Momoa is covered in a jumble of colours and textures. He dons a pink velvet coat and striped trousers, a variety of flashy jewellery, and has both rams horns and furry ears. It’s unclear if his human ears are also there under his hair. Momoa’s character and his appearance allow him to be big and silly, yet he also gets a satisfying emotional arc. Albeit one that’s a bit predictable.
Nemo’s other companion is a stuffed pig that comes to life. If that doesn’t already sound adorable let me tell you, if they sold toys of it I’d buy one in an instant.
As the trio enter Slumberland, the adventure really gets going. All the exposition – what Slumberland is, what the rules are – is breezily explained by Flip. Then the focus is on the stunning visuals. From ballrooms made entirely of butterflies to huge modern cities, the production design is ambitious and imaginative. At points some of the green screen is rather obvious, but that doesn’t detract from the overall sense of wonder.
The awe of Slumberland doesn’t last long, as Nemo and Flip are persued by nightmares and by Agent Green (Weruche Opia). Green is a member of BOSA (the Bureau Of Subconscious Activity) who’s been trying to arrest Flip for decades.
Their pursuit is what triggers most of the set pieces, and because of that things start to feel a bit repetitive. The dreams change as the characters get closer to the treasure, but you know that eventually Green or a nightmare will show up. On top of that, it feels a bit overstuffed, like writing in two separate adversaries perhaps wasn’t necessary to create the requisite tension.
Some of the action falls a bit flat, then, but Slumberland's charm lies completely in the dedication of its cast and its emotional core. The tale of a traumatised child finding escape in a fantasy land isn’t new, but this film stands out because of the way Nemo’s real life and her dreams weave further together as the story progresses. Each character has a moving emotional arc, and the actors are all giving 100% to their roles throughout.
It all comes together to make a heartfelt story about loss, loneliness, escapism and family. And one that’s visually exciting and really captures the imagination. It’s far from perfect, but it’s a little cinematic ray of light nonetheless.
Slumberland is streaming on Netflix from 18th November.
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