Sinbad and the Minotaur (2011)

or horns coming out of your forehead.

Aladdin's mission is basically that: find the lost treasure of Minos (the Colossus' head), and in the interim, overcome a few perils, or should I say "perils", such as an evil dark mage and his human fighter/horror necro ghoul, an island whose inhabitants turn into would-be 'minotaurians' from some kind of curse, some thugs here and there also intent on stopping him, and of course, the infamous minotaur, a CG-created enormous bull that bellows and stomps its way through a cave called a labyrinth (of course), flaming red eyes and no other grotesque features other than a hideous head and ginormous horns.

But to Aladdin, all these are just "details, details", as he often interjects during the movie. I don't ever recall thinking of Aladdin as a throw-all-caution-to-the wind guy, strutting into all kinds of 'unknown' dangers, and when entering the 'labyrinth', (careful! the minotaur!), "details, details". About half-way through the movie, just sitting there dumbly watching this, I am wondering where this is all going, or what exactly is this supposed to be. For a fairy-tale story, it falls pitifully short. For special effects, it is not that highly budgeted an adventure. For teaching some lessons or morals, nothing either. Appealing to an adult audience - not unless you've got less than half a brain. For children, some parts maybe, but it was much too violent and gory for a young audience (ripping off body parts and horns going right through and breaking off). The story was also poorly scripted and acted out, and I say this, not because it had to be a highly paid or budgeted film, but because it lacked substance and imagination.

How many movies have I seen throughout the years, seemingly uninspiring and old story-based, but made with such dedication and inspiration, you fail to notice they're old? Way back, even, in the days when, as a kid, I was mesmerized by 'Jason and the Argonauts', 'Clash of Titans', 'Sinbad the Sailor' (and there were a host of these with similar themes), many of them not big movies, but most left something, which today, sadly, is lacking in many of such.

No need to say more, I believe. You get the picture.