Slumberland is a family fantasy/adventure movie about Nemo(Marlow Barkley) who goes on adventures in her dreams, based on the 90's comic strip. Growing up on an isolated island lighthouse with her father(Kyle Chandler) Nemo is content but when he is lost at sea she is forced to live with her awkward estranged uncle(Chris O'Dowd) and begins escaping into her dreams hunting treasure with Flip(Jason Momoa) a former friend of her father.
Barkley is assured and emotional, realistic if not exactly electric, occasionally wooden, a serviceable YA lead. Momoa is the real stand out, going for broke, clearly delighting in the opportunity to go this big and not having to be a hunk. It's kind of his version of Beetlejuice and it's great. O'Dowd is funny and also kind of heartbreaking as the clueless, cold, door knob salesman and his pay off is pretty sweet. Chandler, although only in the movie briefly, is wonderful as the loving yet grieving dad.
Visually the movie is mostly CGI but it's well done and the designs are imaginative, it works, and it takes advantage of the dream-setting, there are a couple different set pieces and sequences and its enough to feel like its properly taken advantage of, we are transported to this dream-world. An effective execution(as opposed to something like Doctor Strange 2 where the multiverse is only really shown in one montage sequence). A decent soundtrack and fun costumes make for an all around solid production.
It's a relatively straightforward family movie, the adventure is fun, the lessons(and plot) are maybe a bit obvious but it never slips into saccharine territory. It's ambitions are simple and in those it succeeds.
An engaging family adventure if not an amazing one with a career-best performance from Momoa.
Currently streaming on Netflix.
Rent It.
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