‘Haunted Mansion’ Movie Review: A Fresh Take On A Classic Disney Ride
Photo from Netflix
From Joe Peltzer
A slow first act and an odd cast of characters almost prematurely sends Haunted Mansion to the spirit world, but a strong second and third act unveil big laughs and realized themes that make this Disney ride adaptation worth the trip.
In the film, when a woman (Rosario Dawson) and her son (Chase W. Dillon) movie into a large mansion haunted with spirits, they call on a quantum scientist (LaKeith Stanfield) and others to help rid their home of the restless. Writer Katie Dippold successfully taps in to the mystery and nostalgia of one of the oldest Disney rides in existence, The Haunted Mansion, with accuracy and Easter eggs that will delight Disney fans everywhere. Director Justin Simien takes that script and, along with inspired production design, brings the ride to life as the impressively crafted plot takes shape. Unfortunately, said plot is slow to develop as the first act slowly introduces us to Stanfield’s Ben, a lonesome man plagued with grief, the mother/son duo of Dawson and Dillon, and an oddly cast Owen Wilson as Kent. Stanfield’s character is hard to like after a delightful introduction, his attitude off-putting and basic construction uninspired. Wilson, too, is basically just playing Owen Wilson in a hat, the character pretty useless throughout the entire film. It isn’t until the introduction of Tiffany Haddish’s clairvoyant Harriet and Danny DeVito’s silly yet hilarious Bruce, and their arrival with the rest of the crew at the mansion, that the film begins to take off.
I had concerns about Haddish from the outset, feeling as though she was a fish out of water amongst the rest of the cast with cheap laughs from her character in the trailers. I couldn’t have been more wrong, thankfully; Haddish is the comedic heart of the film, her arrival a breath of fresh air in a film that struggled to find the gas. Her character quarterbacks the rest of the group and helps guide Haunted Mansion out of an early grave with comedic timing and hilarious eccentric looks.
Haunted Mansion brings the laughs, though not consistently; some of the jokes are cheap, yet sure to appeal to kids while others evoke belly laughs from all… quite the dichotomy, one or the other. The film also has quite a number of scares thanks in the form of the 999 ghosts roaming the halls, some a bit more fighting than others. Best of them all is Jared Leto’s Hat-Box Ghost, something of a legend when it comes to the ride and perfectly utilized here as the villainous threat of the film. Leto is unrecognizable, but the character is beautifully realized with sinister intent and dazzling design.
Most surprising in Haunted Mansion is the heart at the center of the story, the subplots that take a while to boil to the forefront, but stick the landing. As Stanfield’s Ben processes through what is happening in the mansion, he is also working through his own grief after a personal loss. With each interaction, especially with Dillon’s Travis, the hard exterior melts away and he learns that he doesn’t have to walk through life alone. This reveals a storypoint often absent from films that feature Black families in that Haunted Mansion backdoors a positive portrayal of a Black father figure, not falling into the trap of so many other films that fall on the well-worn trope of absentee fathers. Simien and Dippold’s film ends up much more layered, much more than meets the eye, than expected.
This isn’t the strongest Disney adaptation, but it certainly is enjoyable. Yes, Jamie Lee Curtis makes for a wonderful Madame Leota and the story itself is superb, even as the script struggles at times to light the flame. But there is something enchanting about this story that will appeal to kids and Disney Adults alike. When those spirits start dancing at the dinner party, it’s hard not to crack a smile. And when ‘Grim Grinning Ghosts’ started to play, it was chill-inducing, bringing me back to my childhood.
Rating: 3/5
Haunted Mansion hits theaters on Friday.
