Steven Spielberg is one of those filmmakers that downright
demands attention, although not for reasons you may think. Sure, he’s the guy
largely responsible for the modern-day blockbuster and has helped shape
American cinema into what it is today, but in the last few years, it seems like
the guy has kicked into a higher gear. Along with working with alarming
regularity for a filmmaker of his stature, releasing five films in as many
years, he has also taken to collaborating with some pretty high-profile names
during that time. Between working with Peter Jackson along with some of the
biggest names in British screenwriting on The Adventures Of Tintin, putting a
script written by legendary playwright Tony Kushner to the screen with Lincoln
or bringing in the Coen brothers to help polish up last year’s excellent Bridge Of Spies, he seems to be a magnet for big-name talent behind the scenes right
now. And keeping up with that pattern, he has brought a bunch of his regular
teammates to make a big-budget version of a story by Roald Dahl, responsible
for Matilda, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and The Witches, among many
other classics. So, with all this hype behind it, how does it hold up?
