Roger Ebert Didn’t Like These 10 Fantasy Movies, but I Will Always Defend Them

Roger Ebert is perhaps the most recognized and respected film critic to have ever lived. Some of his life’s achievements include writing for The Chicago Sun-Times for over 40 years, publishing numerous books related to filmmaking and scriptwriting, becoming the first journalist to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, and co-hosting many popular television shows where he reviewed films with fellow critics Gene Siskel from 1975 to 1999 and Richard Roeper from 2000 to 2008. Even after his passing in 2013, Ebert is fondly remembered for his authenticity, approachable writing style, and the thumbs-up/thumbs-down system he created with Siskel.

However, just because he was well respected doesn’t mean Ebert always got it right. In many films, his ranking often clashed with audience reception, such as those released under the broad umbrella of the fantasy genre. This list will discuss those fantasy movies Roger Ebert hated, but I will staunchly defend as a fan of the genre. This isn’t to take away from Ebert’s accomplishments or his knowledge of what made for good cinema, but to remind us that film critics can give us informed summaries of the films they watch, yet even the best can only view things through their personal experience.

10

‘Army of Darkness’ (1993)

Ebert’s Rating: Two stars out of four.

Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) finds himself transported to the Middle Ages and captured by men loyal to Lord Arthur (Marcus Gilbert). After winning their trust, Ash is told that, to get home, he must find the Necronomicon. Unfortunately, he unleashes an army of Deadites led by an evil doppelgänger of himself.

Ebert praised Army of Darkness‘ effects but disliked what he believed to be a formulaic structure where “one action sequence flows into another with only the briefest of pauses for elementary plot details.” Ebert also wasn’t a fan of the film taking a more comedic approach than the previous Evil Dead films. To fans, however, the film is a blast, bringing many of the series’ best lines, giving Ash an engaging character arc, and reinvigorating the Evil Dead franchise with humor and inventive ideas.

9

‘Labyrinth’ (1986)

Ebert’s Rating: Two stars out of four.

Upset that she has to babysit her little half-brother, Toby (Toby Froud), Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connelly) makes a rash wish that the goblins from the book she is reading would take him away. Amazingly, it works, and the goblin king, Jarreth (David Bowie), offers Sarah anything she desires in exchange for the baby. She refuses, so Jarreth makes a deal with her: If Sarah can find Toby in the centre of Jarreth’s labyrinth within 13 hours, she can take him home. Otherwise, he will be transformed into a goblin and stay with Jarreth forever.

Ebert’s review of Labyrinth isn’t one of his best: he gives the dwarf Hoggle (Shari Weiser and Brian Henson) Toby’s name and criticizes the film for taking place in a dreamscape where nothing is real, claiming that “In a completely arbitrary world, what difference does anything make?” Labyrinth is beloved among fantasy fans and Jim Henson‘s puppetry, thanks to its boundless creativity, with every corner presenting a new, fantastical creature that reflects a part of Sarah’s psyche. It’s also hard not to be spellbound by Bowie’s performance due to his charming yet creepy performance, which perfectly encapsulates the duality of the fairy king archetype.

8

‘Legend’ (1985)

Ebert’s Rating: Two stars out of four.

Darkness (Tim Curry) is a mighty demon who dispatches his servants to kill the two remaining unicorns so that he can use their horns to banish the sun. They succeed in killing the stallion, but the mare escapes. As Darkness’ minions track her down, Princess Lili (Mia Sara) and the forest child Jack O’ the Green (Tom Cruise) rally the fairies of the forest to try and recover the stallion’s horn.

Ebert was correct when he called Legend a fairy tale movie, but he follows up by saying that the film is “so effective in rendering evil, so good at depicting the dire, bleak fates facing the heroes, that it’s too dreary and gloomy for its own good.” While it’s true that the film has its dark moments, light ones also abound, such as Jack’s interactions with the fairy folk led by Honeythron Gump (David Bennent and Alice Playten), and the hope that the characters carry with them as they fight to banish Darkness and restore the sun. Beyond its simple but effective storytelling, Legend boasts some of the best physical effects in any fantasy film: its sets are magnificent in their size and detail, while the makeup on Curry creates perhaps cinema’s greatest devil.

7

‘Hook’ (1990)

Ebert’s Rating: Two stars out of four.

Peter Banning (Robin Williams) has an estranged relationship with his family due to his focus on work and habit of breaking his promises. When the Bannings go to London to attend an award ceremony for Moira’s (Caroline Goodal) grandmother and Peter’s old caretaker, Wendy Darling (Gwyneth Paltrow and Dame Maggie Smith), the kids Jack (Charlie Korsmo) and Maggie (Amber Scott) are kidnapped by Captain James Hook (Dustin Hoffman) and taken to Neverland. Peter then follows them with the aid of the fairy Tinker Belle (Julia Roberts), who hopes to remind him of his past as Peter Pan, the boy who would never grow up.

According to Ebert, the crucial failing of Hook is “its inability to re-imagine the material, to find something new, fresh or urgent to do with the Peter Pan myth.” He found the script unoriginal, the performances of the lead actors unconvincing, and felt that the concept of a grown-up Peter Pan forced to reconnect with his childhood was wasted. While the film does lag in a few places, it’s hard to agree with Ebert on this one: Not only are Williams and Hoffman brilliant, but there are tons of hilarious jokes (especially when Bob Hoskins‘ Mr. Smee is involved), and a very strong theme regarding fatherhood and the importance of balancing adult wisdom without losing one’s inner child. These qualities and more have caused the film to hook the hearts of many who saw it.

6

‘Beetlejuice’ (1988)

Ebert’s Rating: Two stars out of four.

Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland’s (Geena Davis) vacation at their country home takes a turn for the worse when their car falls off a bridge, and they come back as ghosts unable to leave their home. Their house is soon sold to Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones), who moves in with his second wife, Delia (Catherine O’Hara), and his goth daughter, Lydia (Winona Ryder). As the Maitlands try to expel the Deetz family, they meet Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), a “bio-exorcist” who offers to help them, but his methods prove to be quite chaotic and destructive.

Ebert began his review of Beetlejuice by saying that “The movie is all anticlimax once we realize it’s going to be about gimmicks, not characters.” He loved the romance between Adam and Barbara and the inventive set designs, but found the slapstick humor to distract from the film, and disliked Betelgeuse, whom he saw as an out-of-place nuisance. Audiences, however, loved the film both for Betelgeuse’s trickster nature, its likable characters, and the immense creativity found in demonstrating the bureaucracy of the dead. It’s little wonder that it spawned an enduring franchise, including a hit television series and a sequel in 2024.

5

‘Jumanji’ (1995)

Ebert’s Rating: One and a half stars out of four.

Before he can run away from home following an argument with his father, Alan Parrish (Adam Hann-Byrd) and his friend, Sara Whittle (Laura Bell Bundy), play a magical board game called Jumanji, until Alan is sucked into the game. Twenty-six years later, a now-adult Alan (Robin Williams) is released by siblings Judy (Kirsten Dunst) and Peter (Bradley Pierce) Shepherd, who have since moved into the house after his parents’ death. Alan and the kids find an older Sara (Bonnie Hunt) and convince her to help them finish the game, as that will undo the various dangers it unleashes upon the town.

Ebert took issue with how intense and scary the film can be, saying, “The movie itself is likely to send younger children fleeing from the theater, or hiding in their parents’ arms.” However, he over-focuses on this detail and overlooks the film’s high points, such as the creativity found in its effects and Alan’s story arc regarding children’s relationships with their parents and running from their problems. This plot is represented through Jonathan Hyde‘s dual role as Alan’s strict father and his antagonist from Jumanji, Van Pelt, a choice that mirrors the tradition in Peter Pan where Captain Hook’s actor also plays Mr. Darling.

4

‘Hocus Pocus’ (1993)

Ebert’s Rating: One star out of four.

A trio of witches named Winnifred (Bette Midler), Mary (Kathy Najimy), and Sara Sanderson (Sarah Jessica Parker) are hanged for the murder of children to power their dark magic. However, the sisters cast one final curse to restore their lives when a virgin lights one of their magic candles on the day the full moon and All Hallows Eve overlap. The curse is fulfilled in 1993 by teenage Max Dennison (Omri Katz), but he escapes with their magic spellbook, and unless the sisters can reclaim it and use its power to drain a child’s life, they will die by sunrise.

Ebert’s opinion of Hocus Pocus is among the lowest of any Disney film he reviewed, comparing it to “attending a party you weren’t invited to, and where you don’t know anybody, and they’re all in on a joke but won’t explain it to you.” His major point of criticism was with the Sanderson Sisters, whom he found obnoxious, and found their over-the-top performances a cover-up for subpar acting. However, the Sanderson Sisters are what most of us love about Hocus Pocus: Their personalities are each distinct, the actors are lively and committed, and the jokes are hilarious. Combined with some catchy songs and the story arc of a boy who failed to save his sister and was cursed into an immortal black cat, it’s easy to see why the film has become a Halloween classic.

3

‘Reign of Fire’ (2002)

Ebert’s Rating: One star out of four.

In 2002, workers in the London Underground accidentally awakened a massive dragon. Eighteen years later, civilization has collapsed as more dragons emerge and massacre humanity, but with food supplies dwindling, the dragons are starving and more aggressive than ever. Quinn Abercromby (Christian Bale), who witnessed the first dragon’s emergence, hopes to wait for the dragons to starve to death, but his plan is complicated by the arrival of dragon hunters led by Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey).

Ebert said of Reign of Fire, “The movie makes no sense on its own terms, let alone ours. And it is such a grim and dreary enterprise.” While some of his criticisms concerning internal logic are valid, such as the presence of only one male dragon for a species that has supposedly existed for millions of years, it’s hard not to enjoy the film for what it is: An action film that pits dragons against modern weaponry. The design of the dragons has also had a long-lasting impact on popular culture, with improved scale texture that made them feel more realistic than previous CGI dragons, and shifting dragon fire from the belly to flammable liquids expelled from glands in the mouth.

2

‘Scrooged’ (1988)

Ebert’s Rating: One star out of four.

Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is a cynical and narcissistic TV executive who is ruthlessly overseeing the production of a live broadcast of A Christmas Carol. When he goes home, he is met by the ghost of his old mentor, Lew Heyward (John Forsythe), who warns him that three spirits will visit him on Christmas Eve to help him avoid a terrible fate. Things are further complicated when Frank’s ex-girlfriend, Claire (Karen Allen), re-enters his life, and the head of the network assigns an ambitious man named Brice (John Glover) to help Frank finish the broadcast.

Ebert’s main problem with Scrooged was that he found it too mean-spirited, calling it “one of the most disquieting, unsettling films to come along in quite some time.” Nowadays, this more cynical style of comedy is precisely what makes the film a holiday classic. It’s a unique take on a familiar story, with Frank’s obsession with making as much money as possible while only looking out for himself parodies the hustle culture of today’s society, where people are encouraged to throw themselves into their work at the expense of relationships and human decency.

1

‘The Sword and the Sorcerer’ (1982)

Ebert’s Rating: Half a star out of four.

King Titus Cromwell (Richard Lynch) enlists the aid of a powerful sorcerer named Xusia (Richard Moll) to defeat his rival, King Richard (Christopher Cary). Xusia’s magic easily lays waste to Richard’s army, but he is betrayed by Titus and stabbed in the back. Richard’s son, Talon (James Jarnigan and Lee Horsley), manages to escape during the chaos and grows into a powerful mercenary set on revenge.

The Sword and the Sorcerer was a smash hit, grossing nearly $40 million against its $4 million budget, making it the most successful independent film of 1982. Ebert praised Xusia’s design and Talon’s unique sword, but also said that the film was “so dominated by its special effects, its settings and locations, that it doesn’t care much about character.” He also claimed that it was hard to tell it apart from other 1980s fantasy films like Dragonslayer and Conan the Barbarian. Still, The Sword and the Sorcerer has acquired a cult following thanks to the elements that do work, and while not one of the greatest fantasy films of the decade, it’s an enjoyable time.

NEXT: Roger Ebert Didn’t Like These 10 Sci-Fi Movies, But We Kind of Love Them?