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A Whale of a Fail? - The Cursed Dreams of Giants

The lights fall low and the dream-like silver screen dazzles the eyes with the humble beginnings of an all too familiar tale. The sprawling forests of an seemingly nondescript fantasy world bleed into view, before homing in on a party of unlikely heroes; heroes that have been brought together by the whispers of apocalyptic destruction. And although some are more eager than others to commit to such a heroic quest, they all go (more or less) willingly, finding adventure, hardship, and revelation along the way. The Cursed Dreams of Giants: Belly of the Bone Whale is yet another would-be fantasy-franchise-starter that endeavors to stand out in an oversaturated genre already packed with juggernauts like Willow, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Dungeons & Dragons, of course the many fantastic adaptations of The Lord of the Rings. But are such aspirations merely the crazed fallacies of a starry-eyed filmmaker or has director Julia McLaughlin crafted the next great epic to be etched in the panels of Hollywood history? Let's get into it.


The Cursed Dreams of Giants: Belly of the Bone Whale is Part 1 of a dark-fantasy epic regaling the tale of the three wicked nightmare titans, mysteriously made manifest from the mind of the giant, Uraj. With their very presence depriving Uraj of sleep and driving him mad, it befalls four unlikely heroes (Alli [The Whisper of Death], Jorin [The Prophet of Light], Elfon [The Chosen Champion], and Tep-Tep [A discontinued, childrens martial arts training bot]) to vanquish the nightmares and lull Uraj back to sleep, lest the giant's senseless destruction destroys their world. And with the decrepit, flying death-fish known as The Bone Whale stalking ever closer to their kingdom, the heroes are left with no choice, but to deal with it first. 


If there ever was an original fantasy premise to ensnare the masses in an instant, I think TCDG has it. However, premise alone does not make a great movie, let alone an entire franchise. No. It also takes follow through and consistent execution within every component to bring it all together, which I don't believe TCDG pulls off.


You see, while TCDG: Belly of the Bone Whale bolsters a compelling premise, enthralling story, deep characters, inventive magic, epic battles, and a deliciously dark world packed with personality, the climatic finale unfortunately lacks any real bite. And make no mistake. The spectacle is definitely there with enough high stakes and whiz-boom-pow than you can shake a stick at. However, due to some odd tonal and music choices, all of the excellent flash and build up falls flat as a paper thin pancake. 


For whatever reason, the musical score for the final fight is this uninspired loop of what feels like  a dull, slow paced, b-list night club track. Like some stock music you'd set to a high school party in a kids cartoon. It's such a bizarre choice that plaques the entire battle. Add on top of that, the characters involved in the battle seem to have zero sense of urgency or danger in the face of the massive, flying, tar-caked zombie-titan-whale. Throughout the fight, it even shoots skeletal piranha from its gaping maw and summons armies of restless dead with an earth shattering screech. Yet still, our heroes in attendance are quipping away every five seconds like it's a phase four marvel flick. And don't get me wrong, I'm not against jokes or comedy in a dire scene, but they should be sparse and well placed so as not to undercut the tone of the moment or in this case, the entire third act. So then that begs the question: Does this emotional flop of a third act ruin the movie and make it a failure?


I'm inclined to say that although the undercut of the 3rd act tension does irk me to no end, the movie still offers enough to make it a must see experience. I cannot in good conscience throw aside the astounding (although expected superhero punchy-punchy) spectacle, the fulfilling payoff of individual character arcs, nor the overall creativity of the surrounding world. AND! Given that it's one of a planned trilogy, one could argue that there is always the prospect that future climatic events will up the ante in terms of tension as most franchises do. I don't personally subscribe to that last caveat as I believe movies should be able to stand on their own, but I get it enough. Either way, it's a good time and visual delight with enough to leave most wanting more. I just hope that in the future, this rag-tag team of titan smitin’ heroes remembers that if they don't take the monsters seriously, then neither will the audience. 


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