This movie is quite strong in terms of story and set up. The characters aren't bad, and the movie has a really interesting premise. The problem that I run into when watching it is that it's clearly been patched together. There are major connecting scenes that were clearly filmed, but left on the cutting room floor because the movie was likely too ambitious, too long. There were a lot of ideas here that would ultimately be best served as a series of movies. What seems to be the case is that there was a clear intent for this to be at least a double feature, maybe even a triple. I think what was supposed to happen is that we were supposed to have several movies that are made at the perspective of each of the main characters' points of view. This first movie is at Alyson's point of view. A second that was likely planned to be called "Now You Don't" would have been at Danny's point of view, and a potential third would have been at Max's point of view that would give his back story and explain certain characters involvement. However, because the first didn't go over as well as hoped for and expected, the second and third never made it past the thought process. It's too bad because there are parts that really needed to be explained. I'm all for show don't tell, but Danny seems to flip-flop in personality throughout the movie and a sequel would have been a good explanation of the points in the movie that didn't wholly make sense.
Example: Why did Danny seem to have some kind of secret when he first got there? Because he had every intent of finding out the secret of the mansion, likely for some kind of potentially nefarious purpose that would change along the way. That story likely was altered at some point that we don't see, but would have seen in the sequel. It almost seemed as though Danny and Max's personalities seemed to switch half way through the movie.
Another Example: When did Paul join up with Max? Why and how did he get involved with Max? How long has he been a part of all of this? All of this would have likely been explained in a third movie.
Truly, this movie needed at least another 30 minutes, and some sequels to fully flesh out an otherwise solid idea that just felt really patchy and lacking in crucial follow-through scenes. I still highly recommend it. It's one of those movies that still came from a lot of creative thinkers before the push for all the song-and-dance movies that would follow on Disney from then on.
Example: Why did Danny seem to have some kind of secret when he first got there? Because he had every intent of finding out the secret of the mansion, likely for some kind of potentially nefarious purpose that would change along the way. That story likely was altered at some point that we don't see, but would have seen in the sequel. It almost seemed as though Danny and Max's personalities seemed to switch half way through the movie.
Another Example: When did Paul join up with Max? Why and how did he get involved with Max? How long has he been a part of all of this? All of this would have likely been explained in a third movie.
Truly, this movie needed at least another 30 minutes, and some sequels to fully flesh out an otherwise solid idea that just felt really patchy and lacking in crucial follow-through scenes. I still highly recommend it. It's one of those movies that still came from a lot of creative thinkers before the push for all the song-and-dance movies that would follow on Disney from then on.