'Gulliver's Travels'

The image of the giant-sized Gulliver and the teeny-tiny Lilliputians is probably the only thing many of us remember from Jonathan Swift's classic novel, a book we were forced to read in high school. So the poster gets an "A" for Zeitgeist. But not much else. The image is so simple, it makes the movie feel like nothing more than a high-concept gimmick pumped up by a larger-than-life comedy star. A one-trick Houyhnhnm. (The bad airbrushing doesn't help; everything's so over-smooth, it's hard to tell if the movie is live action or a cartoon.) I also have to ask - it's rhetorical - if you have a supersized Jack Black, does Hollywood really need the "name recognition" and "sequel potential" of "Gulliver's Travels"? Swift's book satirized the social and political hypocrisy of the 18th century. In 2011, when social media and pop culture are Friends With Benefits, and political infighting is crippling the democratic process, a smart version of "Gulliver's Travels" has something to say. Instead of being tied down, Black had a chance to get a better haircut and (finally) wear long pants; to take a long, strange trip and go the next level as an actor and as a comedian. Instead, he made this.