Review of Inkheart (2008) by Rachel H — 07 Nov 2010

This movie wasn't faithful to its source material at all, but it's definitely not the worst children's movie in the history of the world. It's not trying to be the greatest either, and it just ends up being okay. It can coast by on it's charming stars (including relative newcomer Eliza Bennett) to make an enjoyable film.

First, let's talk about the stars. Brendan Fraser was okay, but I think Eliza Bennett, Jim Broadbent, and Paul Bettany stole the show. Helen Mirren was okay too, and she played the type of upper-class character she plays best. I don't really much care for Brendan Fraser, because his acting is just average in all his movies. Neither good nor bad. He's definitely an acquired taste that I don't have. Paul Bettany did very well in his character, and he was my personal favourite. Capricorn (Broadbent) was a good antagonist, but he was more funny than threatening in my opinion.

The story was good, although not faithful to the book, and it keeps things moving at a nice pace. One problem that I had with it was what one may call sidekick-itis. Dustfinger, although he is a character unto himself, he's Mo's sidekick at times, he gets two sidekicks (the ferret and the Aladdin-esque boy who was read out of his book). Meggie (the daughter) gets Toto, who she reads out of a book, for a short while, and Capricorn gets his army of hapless minions.

All in all, this was an okay movie. Not at all faithful to its source material, but an enjoyable movie that you can take your kids to without having to cringe in fear knowing you would have to watch it. If you haven't read the book, you definitely will like it. If you have, you may like it, but you'll notice the gaping differences.