IMDb plot summary: Sixteen-year-old Sarah is given thirteen hours to solve a labyrinth and rescue her baby brother Toby when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by the Goblin King Jareth.
Directed by Jim Henson. Starring David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Shari Weiser, and Brian Henson.
I missed out on a lot of "classic" 80s kids movies that are beloved by the majority of people I know, and it turns out that most of them are not that great when watched for the first time as an adult. So I kind of rolled my eyes when Labyrinth came up. But, you know what? This TOTALLY works as an adult viewing. I mean, yes, it's definitely a kids' story, but these are some of the most creative fantasy worlds and monsters I've ever seen. I'm usually super bored by kids' fantasy because they follow all the same tropes, but so many of these are fresh -- the cluster of hands, the cheery creatures that can casually remove their body parts, the end scene where everyone's just walking around upside down and sideways, the tiny dog knight that rides another dog... it's all so interesting. And Sarah is a great main character. She's clearly a teenager, but she also is given enough intelligence, maturity, and agency for her to really feel like SHE is the master of this story, not that the story is just pulling her along to where she's destined to be. The ending's a little dumb, but most of it is kind of great. I am very surprised and pleased to have enjoyed it as much as I did.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Labyrinth > Cape Fear (1991)
Labyrinth > The Woodsman
Labyrinth < Secretary
Labyrinth > Cats (1998)
Labyrinth < Looper
Labyrinth < Coherence
Labyrinth < Synecdoche, New York
Labyrinth > Brooklyn
Labyrinth < The Bumblebee Flies Anyway
Labyrinth < Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Labyrinth < Bride of Frankenstein
Labyrinth < Jaws
Final spot: #574 out of 3134.
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