Labyrinth

Jim Henson's final film is a warm, weird and wildly creative coming-of-age fable - with puppets. Jennifer Connelly plays 16-year-old Sarah who, sick of being left to look after her baby brother Toby, wishes for goblins to come and take him away. But when goblin king Jareth (David Bowie) whisks Toby off to his castle in the middle of a maze, Sarah has just 13 hours to save him. The creatures Sarah encounters along the way - gentle beast Ludo, bouncing pooch Sir Didymus and conflicted goblin Hoggle - are brilliantly brought to life by an army of puppeteers, while the ever-shifting sets are a marvel, not least the Escher-like nightmare of the Goblin King's lair. Henson keeps the tone playfully offbeat, and is aided by Terry Jones's mischievous script, plus a series of spectacular musical numbers that vibrantly bring Bowie's original songs to life. At the centre of it all, Bowie is hypnotic as the fright-wig-wearing puppet master who represents everything from trickster to sex god as Sarah struggles with the complexities of growing up. More traditionally structured than Henson's previous fantasy outing, The Dark Crystal, yet sharing its mysticism-meets-Muppets DNA, Labyrinth is a wholly unique dark fairy tale that enchants from start to finish.