Off-putting, unsettling, creepy and incredibly weird are all adjectives that accurately describe Jim Henson’s 1986 film “Labyrinth.” Throughout the film, the audience is taken out of the “real world” and thrust into a labyrinth with twists, turns, bogs of eternal stench, talking worms that say “‘Allo!” and more. Henson’s storytelling in this film is well received and entertaining, to say the least.
“Labyrinth” focuses on 16-year-old Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connelly), and her journey to save her infant brother Toby Williams (Toby Froud), whom she wished away to Jareth the Goblin King (David Bowie). At the beginning of the film, Sarah is outside reading a book that introduces the outline for the world of goblins and of course, Jareth, who she seems infatuated with. When Sarah arrives home, she is expected to babysit her baby brother for the night while her father (Christopher Malcolm) and stepmother (Shelly Thompson) leave the house.
When baby Toby does not stop crying after extensive effort on Sarah’s part to calm him down, Sarah makes a remark wishing the goblin king from her book would come and take away her brother. Easily enough, Jareth appears and Toby does the opposite. Jareth gives Sarah the option to spend 13 hours in the labyrinth surrounding his castle to reach the center and save Toby from becoming a goblin himself.
Upon entering the labyrinth, Sarah is overwhelmed, upset, stressed and everything else a teenage girl would feel upon losing the kid she was supposed to babysit. She meets several characters that confuse her, such as a talking worm that invites her into his home to “meet the missus” and Hoggle (voice Brian Henson), an interesting and stubborn fellow. Hoggle goes back and forth between his loyalty to Jareth and his affection for Sarah.
Because of Hoggle’s changing values, it is difficult for the audience to attach a specific feeling to him. Hoggle is arguably the most human character in “Labyrinth.” He makes mistakes, has trouble apologizing, struggles with his feelings and in the end, just wants someone to love and understand him.
In the actual labyrinth, Sarah comes face to face with many other characters that seem unreal and out of the ordinary. Each character has a specific personality that always manages to clash with Sarah’s. However, Ludo, an emotionally sensitive and physically gentle giant, and Sir Didymus, a fox who rides on a sheepdog, manage to click with Sarah and form a great and trusting friendship that helps them all to survive the enchantingly harsh conditions of the labyrinth.
Along with impeccable storytelling and props, “Labyrinth” has an exquisite score by Bowie and Trevor Jones. The instruments capture the viewer, the performances by the firebirds and the goblins passing a baby around make the film seem like a wondrous land where laughing and dancing are the norm.
“Labyrinth” as a film has an extreme and captivating plot that allows the audience to travel through forests, sing their hearts out, solve intense riddles, repeatedly lose track of where they are, ballroom dance, walk on Penrose stairs, and so much more. The film is filled with childlike wonder that encapsulates magical creativity in a crystal frame and leaves the viewer with a smile on their face.
10/10 would spend 13 hours trying to find David Bowie again