‘Haunted Mansion’ review: Talented cast can’t bring film based on Disneyland ride to life
- LaKeith Stanfield from ‘Atlanta’ stands out as the sly leading man in this dull and stereotypical update of the 2003 Eddie Murphy movie
- Even fun performances from Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish and Danny DeVito can’t breathe life into this family-friendly ghost film
From left: Owen Wilson, Rosario Dawson, LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish and Danny DeVito in a scene from “Haunted Mansion.” Photo: Disney Enterprises via APIs there anything more menacing than a film opening with the credit: “and Jared Leto as the Hatbox Ghost”? What a bone-chilling sequence of words. Unfortunately, that’s the only part of the new Haunted Mansion that might send shivers down your spine. The rest of this ghost romp based on a Disneyland ride elicits only yawns, even when the aforementioned guest star shows up (somewhat) as the be-hatted spirit in question.
Dear White People and Bad Hair director Justin Simien tackles the latest version of the flick, which was previously made into a 2003 film directed by Rob Minkoff and starring Eddie Murphy. Ghostbusters reboot writer Katie Dippold contributes the script, which alternates between witty and sentimental, and heaps on heavy themes of grief and trauma in between the exposition dumps.
In the lead is the appealing actor LaKeith Stanfield, who has an undeniable presence and sense of swagger on screen as Ben Matthias, a former astrophysicist who now guides ghost tours in New Orleans. Having developed a specialised camera lens to capture spectral images (a “ghost cam”), he’s been hired by a priest (Owen Wilson) to help a mother (Rosario Dawson) and son (Chase W Dillon) who have moved into the local haunted mansion down the road. He takes the cash and steps over the threshold, his life forever altered by the energies within.
The good news about Haunted Mansion is that Stanfield is a treat to watch in this slyly humorous leading man role. Known for his more serious performances in films that tend toward the personally and politically bleak, like Short Term 12, Selma and his Oscar-nominated turn in Judas and the Black Messiah, Stanfield has gone absurdist in Sorry to Bother You and comedic in Atlanta, but in Haunted Mansion, his Ben is wry and hot and funny; he’s cool and gets to be the hero too. If only the rest of the movie were up to the level of its star.
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Every time Dippold’s script gets a little bit weird, or the actors colour outside the lines, the film jerks back to the studio-noted conventional, layering on the themes of trauma while sending the characters spiralling down the dim, never-ending hallways of the mansion (the movie is so dismally dark and gray). The kooky Wilson, plus Tiffany Haddish as a fake psychic, and Danny DeVito as an eccentric professor, try their best to breath some life to the dead-as-doorknob material, but to no avail. There is no grasp on tone, and the stakes amount to a literal frowny face. At two hours and two minutes, the film unfurls seemingly endlessly.
At the centre of it all remains Stanfield, a beacon of a more interesting story. There’s a spark of a good idea with Ben as a sceptical ghost-hunting scammer who surprises himself when he becomes legit, alongside fellow fraudsters who end up proving themselves worthy paranormal experts. But that storyline is tossed aside for a stereotypical dead wife backstory, and Stanfield is relegated to merely cowering and reacting in service of this bland kiddie ghost movie.
As for Leto’s Hatbox Ghost? He does appear, sort of, as does Dan Levy, for about 15 seconds. Despite the multitude of celebrity guests, there’s no need to take up residence in this Haunted Mansion.