The movie is quite childish, but reasonably entertaining. It makes no sense and it feels like a cross between Harry Potter and The Sarah Jane Adventures (Dr. Who for kids). So if you are in the mood for that magical feeling, give it a try. I, however, am going to rant about it.
There is a certain sick British delight in all things British, regardless of how evil or horrible. Harry Potter had the greatest success describing an unsafe authoritarian inconsistent medieval boarding school system. How many books about children in a mansion, where the only positive thing is that they are filthy rich, and everything else constitutes child abuse? There have been numerous successful stories about the (I would describe as tyrannical) British Navy. And now you see the papery bureaucratic corporate office, raised to the rank of fairy tale magical place. But it's the same story, really. Somehow, through the virtue of being British, it becomes desirable, perhaps even decent.
The Portable Door presents our every day person: poor, powerless, looking for a job, but young, energetic, good looking and full of dreams. Yeah, I know that's not the every day person, but bear with me. He finds a job through a lot of coincidences and he immediately takes it, even if he knows absolutely nothing about it. He is not even shown signing a contract or discussing payment. Once there, everyone and everything is quirky, obtuse and completely unhelpful. His peer, a young black woman, is derisive and abusive to him. His betters are dismissive and offensive. But he perseveres, because stiff upper lip and he really needs the job. And then we realize, although it was quite obvious, that everything revolves around magic, so everything is fine. Also, he's the chosen one. How surprising.
So in conclusion: it felt completely average, perhaps less so, because it was threading the same formula of magic excusing everything and complete ignorance being confused with adventure. If you are completely lost, you're not having fun, you just don't know where you are. It's a terrible cliché that I would like to disappear, but for some reason it is very popular. Is it that most people are naturally confused and ignorant? But at the same time the cast was good and I did feel compelled to watch it to the end. I know, my soul is lost...
There is a certain sick British delight in all things British, regardless of how evil or horrible. Harry Potter had the greatest success describing an unsafe authoritarian inconsistent medieval boarding school system. How many books about children in a mansion, where the only positive thing is that they are filthy rich, and everything else constitutes child abuse? There have been numerous successful stories about the (I would describe as tyrannical) British Navy. And now you see the papery bureaucratic corporate office, raised to the rank of fairy tale magical place. But it's the same story, really. Somehow, through the virtue of being British, it becomes desirable, perhaps even decent.
The Portable Door presents our every day person: poor, powerless, looking for a job, but young, energetic, good looking and full of dreams. Yeah, I know that's not the every day person, but bear with me. He finds a job through a lot of coincidences and he immediately takes it, even if he knows absolutely nothing about it. He is not even shown signing a contract or discussing payment. Once there, everyone and everything is quirky, obtuse and completely unhelpful. His peer, a young black woman, is derisive and abusive to him. His betters are dismissive and offensive. But he perseveres, because stiff upper lip and he really needs the job. And then we realize, although it was quite obvious, that everything revolves around magic, so everything is fine. Also, he's the chosen one. How surprising.
So in conclusion: it felt completely average, perhaps less so, because it was threading the same formula of magic excusing everything and complete ignorance being confused with adventure. If you are completely lost, you're not having fun, you just don't know where you are. It's a terrible cliché that I would like to disappear, but for some reason it is very popular. Is it that most people are naturally confused and ignorant? But at the same time the cast was good and I did feel compelled to watch it to the end. I know, my soul is lost...