According to the prologue fairy tale, the two worlds were once connected, but when the young, brilliant king died, they were split apart. Drawmer always lived in our world above, but when his family moved to his father’s drafty old ancestral home in the countryside, the fantasy world below starts calling him. Then, that night, a hole opens in his room, swallowing his bratty little sister Verity, so he reluctantly dives in after her.
Down below, the Pangolin oracle immediately hails Drawmer as the foretold king, but the Pangolin general is skeptical. Regardless, if Drawmer is their savior, he hasn’t come a minute too soon. The Pangolin soon find themselves under attack from the forces of darkness. Peter and Verity get cut off from the rest of the Pangolins, but they still have Pling, who is well-versed in the prophesies, as well as epic songs that serve as the pangolins’ maps for navigating their fantasy world.
The pangolins and many of the other fantastical creatures are surprisingly well-crafted. Secret Kingdom might be ripping off the Henson workshop’s greatest hits, but it does so surprisingly well. The fantasy quest, involving pieces of a puzzle Drawmer must assemble to restore the fantasy world’s internal clock, is serviceable enough. The problem is both Drawmer siblings are way too young (and way too passive) for a fantasy so transparently inspired by The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. They just aren’t right for the film.
Yet, it is hard to root against pangolins. They desperately need a break. It is not their fault some fraudsters claim their scales can cure impotency. Secret Kingdom is a good-looking film, but it needed to be aged up. Frustratingly, it just isn’t enough to recommend, when The Secret Kingdom opens this Friday (6/9) in New York, at the Cinema Village.
