HG Wells' First Men In The Moon, previously visited in what is probably Ray Harryhausen's most lacklustre movie, gets a revised adaptation by, and starring, Mark Gatiss.
The adaptation is fine - both faithful to the original but with a knowingly contemporary air to it. Gatiss and Rory Kinnear, as the two main actors, are both very good.
The production is well staged, too, looking authentically Victorian. Only the lunar exteriors look somewhat stagebound (hardly surprising, perhaps), while the interiors are nicely convincing.
The CGI Selenites look very similar to Harryhausen's stop motion models - they both follow Wells' description - and the animation is fine, although the integration into the background plates isn't always successful.
But overall, this must be judged a successful and very welcome update.
The adaptation is fine - both faithful to the original but with a knowingly contemporary air to it. Gatiss and Rory Kinnear, as the two main actors, are both very good.
The production is well staged, too, looking authentically Victorian. Only the lunar exteriors look somewhat stagebound (hardly surprising, perhaps), while the interiors are nicely convincing.
The CGI Selenites look very similar to Harryhausen's stop motion models - they both follow Wells' description - and the animation is fine, although the integration into the background plates isn't always successful.
But overall, this must be judged a successful and very welcome update.