Return to Labyrinth
I ramble to myself, because drquinzel refuses to be spoiled. :(
Thoughts on Volume 1, or Why is Jareth Wearing Lipstick?
Dodgy artwork notwithstanding, probably my biggest problem so far is how Sarah has been shortchanged. This might not be the case in Volumes 2 and 3 when she might come back as a prominent character, but in Volume 1 itself she's barely there. And when she is there, she's barely recognisable. I like that she's wearing glasses (called it!) but she looks so frumpy and unattractive (even in the prologue) that I had to go surfing for pictures of Jennifer Connelly just to remind myself how beautiful she is.
So in this sequel Jareth has decided to forget about Sarah and is instead focusing on Toby. (So far.) Toby is in highschool, meaning that it's about 15 years after the events of the movie and a maybe-30-something Sarah is a schoolteacher who has grown up and is practically Toby's surrogate mom.
Speaking of which, why the hell is the stepmom so cruel here? She was never cruel in the movie; Sarah believed she was cruel because stepmothers have to be cruel, but she was never more than frustrated and disgruntled.
Anyway, Jareth has been watching Toby grow up all these years and has been giving him everything his heart desires, though each and every time that Toby gets exactly what he wishes for, it turns out badly. Now this is an awesome concept. Jareth doesn't quite understand that what people want is not necessarily what they need, and this is why he's an awful parent and Sarah rejected him. But it doesn't stop there and Jareth still wants Toby to be his heir and take the throne. Toby, naturally, finds this all bizarre. And there's mild slashy vibes between the two, eww. Jareth is also a major drama queen in this one, and has super-long manicured fingernails. What's up with that?
What I've always found fascinating about Labyrinth is that it leaves a lot to the imagination. It doesn't try to define things like why the Labyrinth exists, how does it work, who is Jareth really -- because it's much more interesting in our heads. The sequel is attempting to answer some of those questions and I suspect there will be more in Volumes 2 and 3, which rubs me the wrong way but I suppose it's up to them to interpret how the Underground works.
And lo! Jareth is engaged! To a queen who wears a dress with lots of pointy bits. This part actually made me laugh a little because that's such a Jareth-like way to weasel out of his engagement, first going after Sarah and then trying to trick Toby into taking the throne. On the downside, this makes his relationship with Sarah less meaningful than what it had been. Indeed, Sarah as a whole doesn't have a prominent off-screen role either, for Jareth never mentions her, Hoggle "hates" her (BOO) and none of the other characters seem to remember that she'd beat the Labyrinth.
None of the new characters seem particularly memorable. I don't like the fairy with the massive cleavage, I don't care much for Toby (so far), I kinda like Skub, and I definitely am getting bad Mary Sue vibes from the mysteriously emo Moppet.
Guesses for Volumes 2 and 3:
Thoughts on Volume 1, or Why is Jareth Wearing Lipstick?
Dodgy artwork notwithstanding, probably my biggest problem so far is how Sarah has been shortchanged. This might not be the case in Volumes 2 and 3 when she might come back as a prominent character, but in Volume 1 itself she's barely there. And when she is there, she's barely recognisable. I like that she's wearing glasses (called it!) but she looks so frumpy and unattractive (even in the prologue) that I had to go surfing for pictures of Jennifer Connelly just to remind myself how beautiful she is.
So in this sequel Jareth has decided to forget about Sarah and is instead focusing on Toby. (So far.) Toby is in highschool, meaning that it's about 15 years after the events of the movie and a maybe-30-something Sarah is a schoolteacher who has grown up and is practically Toby's surrogate mom.
Speaking of which, why the hell is the stepmom so cruel here? She was never cruel in the movie; Sarah believed she was cruel because stepmothers have to be cruel, but she was never more than frustrated and disgruntled.
Anyway, Jareth has been watching Toby grow up all these years and has been giving him everything his heart desires, though each and every time that Toby gets exactly what he wishes for, it turns out badly. Now this is an awesome concept. Jareth doesn't quite understand that what people want is not necessarily what they need, and this is why he's an awful parent and Sarah rejected him. But it doesn't stop there and Jareth still wants Toby to be his heir and take the throne. Toby, naturally, finds this all bizarre. And there's mild slashy vibes between the two, eww. Jareth is also a major drama queen in this one, and has super-long manicured fingernails. What's up with that?
What I've always found fascinating about Labyrinth is that it leaves a lot to the imagination. It doesn't try to define things like why the Labyrinth exists, how does it work, who is Jareth really -- because it's much more interesting in our heads. The sequel is attempting to answer some of those questions and I suspect there will be more in Volumes 2 and 3, which rubs me the wrong way but I suppose it's up to them to interpret how the Underground works.
And lo! Jareth is engaged! To a queen who wears a dress with lots of pointy bits. This part actually made me laugh a little because that's such a Jareth-like way to weasel out of his engagement, first going after Sarah and then trying to trick Toby into taking the throne. On the downside, this makes his relationship with Sarah less meaningful than what it had been. Indeed, Sarah as a whole doesn't have a prominent off-screen role either, for Jareth never mentions her, Hoggle "hates" her (BOO) and none of the other characters seem to remember that she'd beat the Labyrinth.
None of the new characters seem particularly memorable. I don't like the fairy with the massive cleavage, I don't care much for Toby (so far), I kinda like Skub, and I definitely am getting bad Mary Sue vibes from the mysteriously emo Moppet.
Guesses for Volumes 2 and 3:
- Moppet is actually a beautiful human girl hiding under a goblin mask.
- She will eventually end up with Toby.
- If not, she will end up with Jareth. (Bleh.)
- Toby will find out what his sister did for him.
- Sarah will come back and save the day. (I can hope, can I?)