im Henson's final feature film, Labyrinth, begins in an ordinary enough place in the familiar mundane world, as a self-centered 16-year-old named Sarah (Connelly) sulks and storms over having to babysit her infant brother Toby while her father and stepmother go out. But when Sarah, in a fit of pique, tells Toby, "I wish the goblins would come and take you away ... right now!", a pack of goblins obediently appears to kidnap him, launching Sarah on a dangerous but thrilling adventure in a magical realm. Jareth, the Goblin King (Bowie), attempts to threaten and bribe Sarah into forgetting the baby, but when she insists on going after him, Jareth gives her 13 hours to "solve the Labyrinth," find his castle and rescue Toby. If she fails, Toby will turn into a goblin himself, and be lost forever.
So Sarah sets out through the Labyrinth, a gigantic maze full of talking architecture, weird creatures and hidden secrets. At first she whines and throws tantrums when she realizes how difficult her task is, and how actively the Labyrinth is working against her. "It's not fair!" she shrieks over and over, as things don't go her way. "You say that so often. I wonder what your basis for comparison is?" Jareth snaps in return, during one of his visits to try to turn her from her goal. But gradually she learns to come to terms with her situation and herself, and she starts working on her problems instead of just complaining about them.
As the 13 hours pass, Sarah pushes through the Labyrinth, finding allies, enemies and a few creatures that start off as one and end up as the other, including a crabby, cowardly dwarf named Hoggle (voiced by Jim Henson's son Brian), the shaggy, horned giant Ludo and the snappish but fair-minded foxlike knight Sir Didymus. Solving puzzles and braving hazards like the none-too-helpful Helping Hands and the Bog of Eternal Stench, Sarah and her new friends head toward a direct confrontation with Jareth and all the hordes of the Goblin City.
A timeless wonderland
One of the most remarkable things about Jim Henson's puppetry work is how well it ages. The video effects that passed for high-tech when Labyrinth was made now look obvious and ugly, but it's still marvelous to see the expressiveness and flexibility of Ludo's big, sad face, or to watch Sir Didymus turn and speak with Sarah while riding on a sheepdog's back; it's easy to see Henson's creations simultaneously as hunks of cloth and fur, and as fully realized and utterly convincing characters. Nearly 20 years after it first came to theaters, Labyrinth is still a visual wonderland—not as ambitious and alien as Henson's previous non-Muppet film The Dark Crystal, but more approachable and better paced, and with much the same sense that it's a labor of love for a team of skilled professionals pushing the limits of an art they do better than anyone.
Jennifer Connelly has certainly improved as an actress since her Labyrinth days—she went on to win an Oscar for her supporting role in 2001's A Beautiful Mind, though science-fiction fans may know her better from films like The Rocketeer, Dark City and Hulk. Here, she starts off shrill and overwrought, but quickly finds her footing. David Bowie is more comfortable and consistent actor throughout, and while it's a bit odd to see the icon parading around in his poofy-haired Goblin King getup, singing to puppets and playing with a baby, it's no stranger than any of his other rock identity phases. He makes a perfect Goblin King, all swagger and coldly romantic menace. And he even gets to perform a few catchy songs, which he composed and produced himself.
Labyrinth does have its flaws, from visual effects that don't quite work to humorous bits that come off as forced. But for any viewers who built up their own fantasy worlds as children, it's pure wish-fulfillment joy. The world of the Labyrinth is based very much on Sarah's childhood dreams—just look at the toys and posters in her room in the early scenes, and note how each of them in turn has an avatar in Jareth's realm, right down to the poster of M.C. Escher's "Relativity"—and while the film's message is about being content with the real world, it still ends with a nod to the joys of a rich fantasy life. With Labyrinth, Henson and company put one such fantasy life on the screen in lovely and loving detail, and the results are still magical two decades later.
