The latest adaptation of Jonathon Swift’s Eighteenth Century novel sees Jack Black as friendly but unobtrusive mail man Lemuel Gulliver working in the mail room of a New York newspaper company.
 
Accepting of his social standing Gulliver doesn’t dare speak to the big wigs and lacks the mettle to pursue his love interest, Travel Editor Darcy Silverman (Amanda Peet).  Instead he spends his time rocking out to rock guitar video games and keeping his head down. Jack Black scared to say boo to a goose and stuck in a dead end job is perhaps the most unbelievable concept to grasp in the film, even more so that his later escapades in the land of little people.

By lifting passages direct from notable travel magazines Gulliver plagiarises his way to this first travel assignment offered by a misled Silverman; a solo boat trip to the Bermuda Triangle. A dramatic sea storm curtails his journey as his boat is engulfed in an inverted whirlpool.   

Gulliver wakes up tied down on a beach with hundreds of six-inch tall Lilliputians running around shouting phrases like ‘we hath secured the giant’ in queer 18th Century English parlance. No longer a ‘little man’ but now a giant Gulliver faces numerous challenges before he can hope to get back to the ‘Kingdom of Manhatten’. Gulliver’s adversary, General Edward is brilliantly played with a Pythonesque quality by comedian Chris O’Dowd.  

The analogies between big and little people pepper the film but the essential message is timeless: you have the potential to achieve whatever you set your mind to, no matter who you are.

An impressive supporting cast includes Catherine Tate & Billy Connolly who are slightly distracting as the King & Queen of Lilliput, maybe because they are so well known and loved for things un-Lilliputian. It is hard to be absorbed in Lilliput when you half expect the Queen to ask her subjects ‘am I bovered?’ at any given moment.

There is also something a bit too self-knowingly funny about some of the performances, including Emily Blunt’s whimsical take on the dippy Princess of Lilliput. There is a funny scene where everyone sings  Edwin Starr’s ‘War, what is it good for?’ but at the end of the song it wouldn’t have come as a surprise to see everyone stand up and applaud themselves for such a witty and memorable scene. 

The pendulum swings too far over to tongue in cheek from earnestness for this fantasy to be truly captivating.  This is director Rob Letterman’s (Monsters vs Aliens, Shark Tale) first live-action movie which may explain this and some of the cartoonish characters. A mishmash of cinematic references to films like Transformers, Guitar Heroes and even Cyrano de Bergerac add to the lack of coherence but are fun.  

Gulliver’s Travels has some laugh out loud moments whatever your age and Jack Black doesn’t disappoint with his trademark mannerisms but overall it lacks flow and is disjointed in parts. This may be partly due to the inexperience of the director as well as the number of key personnel departures during filming.

At one point Gulliver is banished all too briefly from Lilliput to mysterious ‘Brobdingnag’ or ‘the Island of which we never speak’. This segment, although slightly disjointed, is a welcome eerie interlude and contains some of the film’s funnier moments.  
 
Despite its problems the special effects are great and the result is an enjoyable romp of a film; the kids will enjoy the 3D spectacle of a giant Jack Black stomping around a miniature town losing a sneaker here and there.

The original novel is rich with a variety of adventures but this latest big-budget adaptation, like its celluloid predecessors, doesn’t venture far from the well trodden paths of Lilliput. However, for family Christmas entertainment this is a great choice with kids being the obvious winners.

It be fun, tongue-in-cheek and obviously hath no intentions to offend thee.