The House with a clock in its walls

This is in many ways a throwback to the 80s Amblin era entertainments, with an orphaned child taken in by his uncle who lives in a house full of magic and strangeness. And as he settles into his new home, he discovers a threat lurks within the house, a threat that could endanger everything he knows…

This has charismatic adults (Jack Black and Cate Blanchett most prominently, but also Kyle McLachlan and Renee Elise Goldsberry) and none-too-bad work from the kids either, yet it fumbles into being mostly fairly mediocre. Nothing really builds up a head of steam – this tends to be a series of incidents, rather than necessarily a well rounded plot (even when the backstory is revealed and turns out to have interesting details, it still feels kinda flat) – this just doesn’t have the verve that a good kids fantasy movie should have, as the adventure becomes overwhelming and you’re caught up in the wonder – instead, it just sorta sits there flatly. Black still has the twinkle in his eye, and Blanchett shows a nice sense of wit, but there just isn’t quite enough for them to do, so it all feels like so much sludge.