{"id":26752,"date":"2023-07-27T11:32:58","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T18:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=26752"},"modified":"2023-07-27T11:32:58","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T18:32:58","slug":"haunted-mansion-ekes-out-a-couple-of-chuckles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=26752","title":{"rendered":"HAUNTED MANSION Ekes Out a Couple of Chuckles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 122 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from Disney Studios will be released\nexclusively at theaters on July 28th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the last decade, Disney has been on a tear creating\nlive-action adaptations of animated properties. These films have gotten so much\nattention that many may have forgotten the studios\u2019 sideline of making movies out\nof their theme park rides. And some of these projects are even more daunting,\nconsidering that there typically is very little detailed backstory involved in\na 10-minute attraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the 2003 effort Pirates of the Caribbean: The\nCurse of the Black Pearl<\/em> was something of an anomaly in that it successfully\ntranslated to the big screen. However, the series follow-ups and other titles\nlike The Country Bears<\/em>, Tomorrowland<\/em> and Jungle Cruise<\/em>\nhaven\u2019t quite matched the first pirate-themed adventure. Disney\u2019s latest attempt\nis Haunted Mansion<\/em>, based on the extremely popular ride. It\u2019s actually\nthe second film based on the concept (a 2003 effort starring Eddie Murphy was a\nbox office and critical flop). This version isn\u2019t perfect either, but it is an improvement\nthat ekes out a couple of chuckles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Former scientist Ben Matthias (LaKeith Stanfield) is a grieving\nwidower who now spends his time going through the motions as a New Orleans tour\nguide. One night, he\u2019s visited by Father Kent (Owen Wilson), a holy man familiar\nwith Ben\u2019s innovative design for a camera that can capture images of ghosts.\nThe priest promises a major payday if he takes photographs at a mansion thought\nto be haunted. Despite reservations, Ben accepts the offer and meets terrified homeowner\nGabbie (Rosario Dawson) and her son, Travis (Chase Dillon). Sure enough, the\nprotagonist does encounter supernatural figures, including the threatening Hatbox\nGhost (Jared Leto) and Madame Leota (Jamie Lee Curtis), a deceased medium residing\nin a crystal ball. Ben and Father Kent convince psychic Harriet (Tiffany Haddish)\nand professor Bruce Davis (Danny DeVito) to help them square off against the paranormal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The screenplay attempts to wedge in portions of the ride\nwith a more detailed history of the mansion and its many spirits. While the\nemphasis is on humor and not on tension or scares, the film does try to address\nand deal with the lead\u2019s personal tragedy, the reason for young Travis\u2019 shyness,\nand the personal issues troubling numerous supporting characters. Ben\u2019s arc is certainly\nrelatable and compelling to watch. Young Travis also makes a great impression,\nmixing some wonderfully funny reactions to supernatural phenomena alongside heavier\nmaterial relating to his introverted nature. And Father Kent\u2019s backstory ends\nup being quite amusing, adding some effective humor to the scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But truth be told, it\u2019s all a bit overstuffed and even the\nediting comes across as choppy as it tries to juggle all the characters, both living\nand deceased. Still, at least attempts are being made to develop each of the\nvisitors to the mansion and the cast are so talented that they make the most of\nthe scenario. In fact, many of the film\u2019s finest moments involve humorous\ncomments between characters as they acknowledging the bizarreness of their situation.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It is also fun to see recreations of bits from the theme\npark attraction, including some familiar faces haunting the hallways. These\nmoments are entertaining early on, but there is a great deal of\ncomputer-generated imagery that continues to increase as the story develops.\nSome bits involving spirits causing trouble outside the mansion are striking.\nBut not all of it looks convincing and the elaborate finale in particular goes\noverboard with CGI effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the end, the film is somewhat predictable, but offers a\ncouple of minor twists involving its characters and their motivations. And the\nperformers are so strong that a lot more of the humor lands than one would\nexpect. It does have some trouble juggling so many story elements with the references\nto ride, but in the end enough of the material works to earn it a minor recommendation.\nHaunted Mansion<\/em> doesn\u2019t outdo the real Disney experience and doesn\u2019t\nmake a lasting impression, but it delivers enough effective moments to entertain\nfamilies looking for ghostly fun.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 122 minutes This feature from Disney Studios will be released exclusively at theaters on July 28th. For the last decade, Disney has been on a tear creating live-action adaptations of animated properties. These films have gotten so much attention that many may have forgotten the studios\u2019 sideline of making movies out of their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":26753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[213,4158,4660,5922,5931,8262,8934,8935,8936,8937,10275,10399,12044,15606,17033,17369,22702,22865],"class_list":["post-26752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-213","tag-chase-w-dillon","tag-comedy","tag-disney","tag-disney-pictures","tag-ghost-story","tag-haunted-mansion","tag-haunted-mansion-film-review","tag-haunted-mansion-movie-review","tag-haunted-mansion-review","tag-jamie-lee-curtis","tag-jared-leto","tag-lakeith-stanfield","tag-owen-wilson","tag-ride","tag-rosario-dawson","tag-theme-park-ride","tag-tiffany-haddish"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26752\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}