J. J. Wright’s review published on Letterboxd:
Hadn't seen this since I was a kid, and the only thing I remember from that viewing was the Bog of Eternal Stench, so... it's not like I have a ton of residual goodwill or nostalgia. Unfortunately.
The thing is, the visual design and puppetry is outstanding. Almost enough to make up for the copious flaws with the story and script. There is an elemental quality to the film's themes, its fantasy elements of a mystical, dangerous place JUST around the corner from our world drawn from the faerie tradition, and its focus on maturity, responsibility, courage, and friendship is nice and positive.
But the script spins its wheels a bit, repeats itself, and takes distracting tangents that don't fit together as well as they might. Bowie is a good figure of first sexual awakening, but the musical interludes are kind of laughable. His character's threat is lessened, significantly, by his actions and by the sense that his worst punishment is just that stinky bog. The other issue is that the tone is all over the shop, which pairs with the lack of stakes to create an undesirable sense of disengagement and even tedium. Still, I applaud the creativity and the moral, and only wish the story to which they were applied was more consistently well handled.