A mother and her son enlist various “specialists” in order to get rid of the many ghosts that inhabit the mansion they have just moved into.
We have never been to a Disney theme park. But we’ve been told that those who’ve visited the various haunted mansions around the world should appreciate the nods in the film.
We also haven’t seen the 2003 version, by Rob Minkoff, starring Eddie Murphy. But we were told it sucked.
The Haunted Mansion experience was therefore completely new to us. In the end, we thought she might have been nicer with our 7-year-old boy.
Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and her 9-year-old son, Travis (Chase W. Dillon), have just left New York for New Orleans – which unfortunately we see and hear very little. Their new home is a haunted mansion just by looking at it from the outside.
The desperate mother turns to Father Kent (Owen Wilson) to push the spirits away, but his exorcism doesn’t work. This one will knock on the door of Ben (LaKeith Stanfield), tourist guide of the Louisiana metropolis, who does not believe in ghosts at all. However, in another life, when he was happy and in love, he invented a lens that technically allows us to take pictures of spectra. Ben accepts the assignment for one reason only: the number of dollars in the envelope.
If you wonder why they are so relentless, it’s because once they enter the mansion, the ghosts don’t let go of them, no matter where they go. So they have no choice but to come to terms with it.
Medium Harriet (Tiffany Haddish) and historian Bruce (Danny DeVito) join the friendly group of ghost hunters. Haunted Mansion’s strength is its cast. Despite the cliché of a camera that brings together very different personalities, the complicity between the actors is fun. The amazing presence of Jamie Lee Curtis too. Jared Leto’s remains inexplicable. LaKetih Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You, Knives Out) particularly stands out, especially considering Katie Dippold’s thin script (2016’s Ghostbuster The Heat).
The direction of Justin Simien (Dear White People, the film and the series) is effective. Enough rhythm so that young people do not get bored. Extensive enough to please fans of the attraction. But not scary enough for our taste. If only it were funnier… We are aware that this is a film intended for the whole family, but it still lacks audacity. Guillermo del Toro was originally to pilot this new version. He even wrote a screenplay. Disney deemed it too disturbing. It is sad.
