2 out of 5

Director: Rod Hardy

Yowza. 20,000 leagues has the benefit of being the type of tale that CAN be retold, even in these modern iPad times. And it was 1997, and you’re making a movie for TV, and you have some money, and Michal Caine agrees to star… I don’t know. For better or worse, many movies you can predict quality from the outset, and the opening dream sequence of this film is no different. And the second, third, fourth, and fifth times you see the dream sequence cut in don’t help. I understand that it’s difficult to make films for television, as you must have some awareness of commercial breaks and splitting the thing up into two parts. This is certainly a roadblock to building tension. But it’s also a roadblock when you decide to pepper an already overlong film with senseless dialogue and side “scenes” that don’t really seem to affect anything overall. …Are they for comedy? …For some kind of societal commentary? I didn’t care. Every now and then the movie comes up with a good set or a nice action scene, but then it’s back to a stupid side-step or a dream sequence, and you’re back down to two stars.