The Haunted Mansion Movie, One Disney Nerds Spoiler Free Opinion
I guess I should preface my thoughts on the movie by saying that Disney’s Haunted Mansion in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World is my favorite attraction at Walt Disney World. It likely makes me a little biased but not the way you think. I think because of my love for the attraction my expectations and standards going into the movie were pretty high. In my opinion, it did not disappoint. So here we go…
I thought it was really well done! I enjoyed the storyline and they also did a great job representing my city, New Orleans which so many movies and TV shows completely screw up. There were tons of fan service and connections to the theme park attractions. The movie had some fairly serious and sad moments but was balanced by some mildly scary and even some great humor. I am typically not a fan of Danny Devito but thought he did a good job and Owen Wilson was fantastic as usual. I hadn’t seen anything from LaKeith Stanfield until tonight and I can’t think of anyone who could have done that role more justice, he was great. I recently saw Tiffany Haddish do her stand-up as an opener to Bert Kreischer and was not really impressed, I am happy to say she totally changed my mind about her in this film! She was fantastic and her performance in the film was much funnier than her stand-up. I thought Chase Dillon did an exceptional job and even though he is a fellow Louisianian I am not a big fan of Jared Leto but as just a voice actor for the Hatbox Ghost he did fine. To round out the cast I think Rosario Dawson did an amazing job, and she was definitely more funny than I expected. I am certainly a fan of hers and she is one of only a handful of actors that have the Disney Nerd hat trick (playing a Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars character). Jamie Lee Curtis’ role wasn’t a huge one but certainly was important and I think she nailed Madam Leota.
I laughed out loud multiple times, got a little scared here and there, and teared up at a couple of the touching moments but what I enjoyed most was all the nostalgia and Easter eggs from the ride. I highly recommend going to see it in the theater and would certainly see it in the Dolby or AMC Prime theater if available, the better sound and vibrating seats added to the experience.
