A group of Union soldiers escape a Confederate prison in a balloon. Caught in a storm, they are blown across the country and out to sea. Crash-landing on a mysterious island in the Pacific, our heroes soon realise that their refuge is home to a variety of super-sized creatures and a mysterious figure calling himself Nemo...
Happy new year!
Based on a novel by Jules Verne, The Mysterious Island serves as a sequel to two of his previous works, 20 000 Leagues under the Seas and In Search of the Castaways. I have never read this particular tome, but I did watch this movie years ago - I could not remember much so this was basically a fresh viewing.
Most famous for the visual effects by Ray Harryhausen, The Mysterious Island is a fun romp. It may not have the most charismatic cast, but the story moves at a clip, revealing the island's mysteries progressively as our heroes learn to master the basics of surviving on the island.
I was most impressed by the integration of the effects into the story. In a lot fo the Harryhausen films I have seen, the special effects have been the best part of the movie, largely because the rest of the movie underwhelmed. Either the story was rote, the acting would be wooden or the direction of the other scenes would lack the same energy as the set pieces.
Director Cy Enfield was an American director who had been blacklisted and continued his career in the UK. He would go onto helm 1964's Zulu, which is probably his most well-known credit.
His direction here is solid - I cannot point to any specific stylistic flourishes, but that is irrelevant. He knows how to shoot this story, and integrates his side of the action with Harryhausen's effects, with use of a mobile camera and good physical effects.
This might be an effect of improved technology, but there is far more care and immersion to the creature effects. The blue screen effects are far sharper than earlier Harryhausen productions which helps, but overall there is more of a sense of unity between the first unit and the special effects unit photography.
And while the human characters are not that well-drawn, they are all interesting. The screenplay throws in a minor conflict by having one of the castaways a Confederate soldier, but any potential conflict - particularly with the one black soldier - is avoided. While this feels ridiculous, the lack of racial and sexual conflict (a couple of women soon join the group after their ship sinks) is somewhat interesting, although it does mean the characters' conflict is purely situational rather than interpersonal - which might ahem given the actors something to do.
The mostly British cast are fine. Michael Craig is solid in the lead as Captain Harding, but he does not have much to work with.
The only actors who display any ease are the actors who do not have to concentrate on their accents -Michael Callan adds a little bit charm as journalist Brown (who exists to provide the other characters with a quick rundown on Captain Nemo), while Joan Greenwood plays an unflappable aristocrat who is somewhat nonplussed by her new circumstances - I am not sure if her breeziness is an acting choice or an actor's disinterest in the material.
Dan Jackson plays black soldier Corporal Neb Nugent - he is established as second in command to Harding, although he seems to have no authority over the other soldiers. The character does betray certain traits which seem questionable - he does dance for joy at one point - but he kind of fades into the background. This might have been Enfield's attempt at representation without overt commentary, but the performer does not get much to do.
Percy Herbert plays the Confederate soldier Sergeant Pencroft. I am sure that Herbert is a fine actor but he is hopelessly miscast as Pencroft - the big issue is the accent. He tries his best but every time he opens his mouth, he betrays his true origins. I actually forgot that he was meant to be from the South. I get the sense that the filmmakers wanted to present a group of people of different backgrounds working together
The big selling point for me is the portrayal of Captain Nemo. I watched the Disney version of 20 000 Leagues under the Sea so many times as a kid - I have not seen it in years but I'm pretty confident I can remember individual scenes almost verbatim. I was always fascinated by James Mason's portrayal of Nemo, and it drew me toward Jules Verne's books. I have a soft spot for anything Nemo-related, and I was looking forward to seeing how this iteration stacked up.
Initially, Nemo's presence is only hinted at - one of the survivors wakes up alone on the beach beside a fire; a giant bird who attacks the camp is felled by a bullet from an unknown shooter. Enfield does not even go so far as to visually hint at this mysterious benefactor.
It adds a neat layer of mystery to the movie over and above the expectation for whatever Harryhausen has cooked up.
When he finally makes his appearance about an hour in, the filmmakers give him a great entrance: following a boat exploding, a figure rises out of the water and walks onto shore.
Nemo here is played by Herbert Lom. Best known for playing Inspector Closeau's boss Dreyfuss in the Pink Panther movies, he is a fine character actor and a solid choice to play Nemo. He has a great voice, and a certain remote quality which works for the role - this is a character who operates outside any moral binary.
Lom's Nemo feels like more of an intellectual loner than Mason, but he is also more benevolent and accomodating toward the surviviors. He is pretty abrupt and does not like the company of other humans, which is an interesting dynamic that the story does not really develop.
Although I enjoyed the delayed reveal, the character does feel shortchanged. In Verne's novel, we learn great deal about Nemo's origins and motives. There is not enough time for any of that, and the way the characters are portrayed does not provide an opening for getting into any arguments about Nemo's past actions.
The movie is really plot-driven, and Nemo is solely focused on escaping the island before a nearby volcano destroys it. The movie is more concerned with overcoming obstacles than internal conflicts.
While the movie was not a Disney production, I was surprised at how similar the exterior design of the Nautilus was - it is a bit of a disappointment, because one of the most memorable aspects of the production is the design of Nemo’s diving suit, which has a helmet fashioned out of a giant sea shell. It is a fun visual and I was disappointed that aesthetic did not continue into his ship.
One of the funny things about Mysterious Island is that for once the Harryhausen elements are not the only exciting elements in the picture. This movie moves along and I never felt like checking my watch during the dialogue sequences.
As far as set pieces go, the ending is the best - our heroes travel to the sunken pirate ship to repair and raise it to the surface and are attacked by a giant cephalopod.
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