I’m not loving it.
I’m not exactly hating HOWARD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, either. I think part of the problem is that I want the movie to be constantly hovering on the edge of being a horror flick, just like the book did. I’m being serious! Howard was meddling with forces he didn’t really understand! He was always just one unnatural angle away from drawing Azathoth! And what happened to the creatures, cities, and worlds he left behind him?
So, yeah, we’re not getting that in the movie. It still might be okay, though. I’m not the target demographic, after all.
Basically what I got from the trailer is they couldn’t decide if they wanted a slapstick kids’ comedy or a lovecraftian movie full of existential dread. Which really doesn’t seem like something that would work with “a little of one and a little of the other” approach.
Zachary Levi basically continuing in his Captain Marvel persona really doesn’t help at all, either.