Imagine that you are reading an entertainment magazine like "Entertainment Weekly" or "Rolling Stone", and you happen to look in the news section where they give you information about a movie that is in production. It is a children's movie distributed by Miramax, who has made dozens of Oscar-winning films over the last 30 years. It has special effects by Cinemagic and the Jim Henson Creature Shop, and Jack Black stars in it. You would want to see it, right? Well, not if it's "The NeverEnding Story III".
"The NeverEnding Story III" is disappointing in every sense of the word. It is by far one of the worst sequels ever made, and it does a disservice to the book by Michael Ende and the original 1984 film on which it is based (My review: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088323/usercomments-250).
This movie takes characters from the book and creates a new story that is full of plot holes, bad puns, and very little logic whatsoever. It helps very little that none of the cast members from either of the first two movies were involved in this film.
This time, Bastian is played by Jason James Richter ("Free Willy" (1993)). Although Richter looks like a preteen model, he is still harassed by a gang at his new school known as the Nasties (or the Nastys) whose leader is Slip, played by a then-unknown Jack Black.
As it turns out, Bastian's new school also happens to be where Coreander, the owner of the book store in the original story, works as a librarian. British actor Freddie Jones plays Coreander in this movie, and fans of the original may be disappointed not to see Thomas Hill reprise his role. I don't blame them.
Anyway, Coreander happened to bring the NeverEnding Story with him to this school library. It's a pretty contrived way to bring the book back into the story after the main character has moved away if you ask me.
What's even more contrived is when Bastian, hiding from the Nastys, retreats into the world of Fantasia, only to have Slip retrieve the book, realize its powers, and try to destroy the world and Bastian. In the book and the first two movies, the reader had little to no control over how the NeverEnding Story would be told. How the Nastys get control is never explained anywhere in the movie. The NeverEnding Story being an enchanted book is no excuse to cover up such plot holes.
When Bastian realizes he has to re-enter the real world to obtain the book and save Fantasia, the movie just gets worse. Even with the Oren (the token worn around the neck that resembles two snakes), Bastian alone can't make it back home. So a number of creatures from Fantasia have to wish with him, and be transported into his world, for him to save Fantasia.
Such a subplot wouldn't be so bad if the supporting characters weren't so annoying and intelligence insulting. There's the Rock-Biter's baby boy who talks in annoying "baby talk" that real children under 3 don't use as vernacular, an anthropomorphic tree who talks like an old Jewish comedian except not as funny, and two gnomes (Urgl and Engywook, featured in the first movie but played by different actors) who have a tired running joke about needing to use the bathroom.
Oh yes, and who could forget Falcor, the luck dragon? In the first two movies, Falcor was a hero to Atreyu and Bastian, and was the voice of reason in many situations. He also had a voice like Walter Cronkite, which made him ever cooler. Here, he not only looks different from the previous two films, but he's whinier and dumber. When, in the real world, he mistakes an airplane for a female luck dragon, I could only hang my head and wonder, "Why?".
To make matters worse, Bastian can't wish the book back after the Nastys stole it because he can't use the Oren to make wishes in the real world. That plot point is well and good, and makes a setup for a great conflict that adds to the story. Unfortunately, the people who wrote this screenplay forget that plot point and failed to explain why Bastian's stepsister Nicole (Melody Kay) could make wishes when she had possession of the Oren. Any script reviser could point out these plot holes, and it most especially amazes me that filming progressed despite these inconsistencies.
It is even more amazing that no one in this movie actually acts poorly. Richter does well in his role, despite his voice obviously cracking and no one noticing. I don't bring that point up to be mean. It's just that the filmmakers could have used his voice changing as a good subplot to explain why he's being picked on. But I digress.
The point is that everyone involved in this film just could not save the story having so many inconsistencies. By the end, the story bears no resemblance to Ende's original book at all. The Fantasia creatures are also too annoying, trying too hard to be comic relief and inundating their dialogue with uncharacteristic pop culture references. Case in point: the Rock Biter rides his bike while singing "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf. What were these filmmakers thinking?
And you would think that the Jim Henson Creature Shop working on your side would be a valuable asset in this film. In this case, none of the recurring characters look like they did in the first two movies (the Rock Biter, looking like a pint-size version of his predecessor, was the biggest disappointment), and they weren't strong characters either. They did not live up to Henson's high standards of storytelling and development. If you don't believe me, try finding this movie on Muppet Central. You would have had better luck finding this film in a theater that ran it for two weeks back when it was released.
