Reviews

The book was an anachronistic festival of weak plot turns and loose ends, that the movie could have tightened up and made into a compelling story. The locations are gorgeous and the pacing has that deliberate BBC period drama feel. But that's about all that's good.

Darcy has regressed into WORSE than the beginning of P&P - an overbearing, bull-headed cuss with no regard for the feelings of his sister or wife.

Col. Fitzwilliam as the baddie? Puh-leaze.

In 5 years, Elizabeth has apparently aged into a nagging, care-worn fishwife. She is haggard and tired. Her dresses are dowdy. She was awful and I REALLY LIKE this actress.

And in all this mess, Wickham and Lydia emerge as the likable characters? I mean, Matthew Goode would be sultry and delicious playing a bridge troll. But the mis-casting is really obvious here.

Overall a swing and a miss. Watch it with no sound and just make up your own dialogue. It will be better. I promise.

Imagine you have a room full of 11-year-old girls and you tell them each they have 15 minutes to write a fantasy princess story and accompanying silly-girl-poem. Now shuffle all of those stories together in no particular order and set the silly-girl-poems to music (hint: it just has to rhyme, not make any sense). Now have a computer vomit up some cheap animation, and you've got Sophia The First.

This movie has it all! Royal prep-academy, evil-ish wizards, flying horses, talking animals (who complain that they only help princesses for food). And don't forget the random appearance of Cinderella to heal the rift between the princess step-sisters which... somehow... breaks the spell over the kingdom... honestly I have no idea.

Whoever made this "movie" is laughing all the way to the bank.

Some people complain that the movie isn't visually impressive or doesn't hold up to recent movies. You just can't compare them! It's OK that the animation and special effects didn't take precedence over the actual story or characters and they didn't try to build an entire movie around a breakthrough in visual effects (I'm talking to you, "Happy Feet").

I've watched Dumbo with my 2- and 4-year-olds and they like it just as much (or more) as any new release. I think it's fascinating that the bulk of the story is told through music and the sweet body language of the baby and his mother. Of course there's some important exposition that has to be given by Timothy or the gossipy elephants but overall, the most powerful scenes are when no one says a word. "Baby Mine" will always bring a tear to my eye.

A movie that I loved as a child and has touched a different place in my heart as a mother.

How can a movie be filled with actors who are flat, boring and don't come near the emotional potential of Rowling's original characters, yet be so hyper-active and jumpy that you feel like you're going to have a seizure? If this sounds like a fun movie experience, this is the movie for you!

The mark of a good movie is that you can totally immerse yourself in the story, feel for the characters and pass the time believing in the world that the director has created for you. If you are constantly being pulled out of the story thinking "what the H was that all about??" or "wow, this guy couldn't act his way out of a paper bag!!" then the movie is worth nothing more than the plastic it's printed on.

Book/movie story comparisons aside, I simply don't know how you could possibly understand this movie without having read the book. I'm sure there are lots of people out there who do watch only the movies and I wonder how the story translates to them? Can you understand the complex snippets of disjointed story that are being thrown at you? Or are you just mindlessly slavering over Dan Radcliff's pale skinny body and have no brain cells left for anything else? Yup... that's what I thought. Quit being mad and go back to your Tiger Beat fantasy. The one where you're slathering sunblock on Danny boy. Lots and lots of sunblock...

I think the biggest frustration with this movie is all the unrealized potential. The humor from the Weasley twins. The evil, power-hungry wretch of Dolores Umbridge. Instead she's played as a slightly pompous Queen Mother. Boring! The furious and unpredictable teen-angst from Harry (I'm not sure Radcliff's acting ability could have pulled it off, so maybe it's OK they skipped that part). Sirius in the movie is just... bizarre. Not a lovable godfather but more of a weirdo goth recluse.

The visual effects are getting better - at least there are no rubber-band stretchy people like in Sorcerer's Stone. But everything is deliberately changed and shot so fast and from strange angles that you lose the story trying not to vomit from the shifting screen perspective (aka Blair Witch).

I hate how each new director has to put his own little "spin" on the story to make it his own. Get with the program guys! So, back to the mark of a good movie. I couldn't watch more than 4 minutes of the story without wanting to reach through the screen and poke Radcliffe in the eye to see if I could elicit any kind of emotion. The rest of the characters were mildly annoying. The special effects have probably caused several thousand undocumented cases of epilepsy. And at the end of the movie I didn't feel anything about any person, good or bad. So, as a movie experience this one fails utterly. After Goblet of Fire I had really resolved to be done with the movies, but I heard that this one was not that bad. Apparently I need to learn that "not that bad" still means "not very good either".

I liked this movie all right. It was visually beautiful, well-directed and cleverly laid out. I felt like the director led me through the plot twists wonderfully; with just enough mis-direction and showmanship that I was slowly starting to catch on, but not confused at the final reveal. It was a great surprise and really left you thinking.

My only complaint is that I didn't feel emotionally invested in any of the characters. Robert is angry at his wife's death but she is gone so early in the movie that you don't really feel the pain of his loss or understand his obsession. Borden's main motivator is the love for his daughter but you don't really get that either. He's presented as an emotionally unavailable man who is more in love with what he does, rather than the family he has. Olivia comes and goes without truly capturing the affections of either man, or the audience. Her role in the affair is the same as her role in the movie; a pretty girl who is there to mislead you. At the end when you figure out what is going on, it makes a little more sense but it's not soon enough to make you feel committed to the movie, or its characters.

At last, a James Bond movie that's as gritty and action-packed as you would hope. Gone are the silly villains, the CGI special effects (think Brosnan surfing down the face of a calving glacier and try not to let your eyes roll out of your head). There aren't inane female villains with names like "Zenya Onnatop" and Bond delivering silly one-liners. The last few Bond movies have been almost Austin Powers-esquire. But not anymore.

Daniel Craig does a wonderful interpretation of Bond. Since it's a prequel he is a little rough around the edges and the movie does a great job of showing where Bond got some of his quirks and mannerisms (his famous drink for example). The dialog is smooth and believable, sharp and witty. I like how there was genuine fighting and fear, instead of the super-power Bond just smoothly shooting a room full of people and walking away sipping his drink. And this Bond is TOUGH. The action sequences are edge-of-your-seat exciting, the stunts are amazing but realistic and the plot has real tension to it.

From the intense sky-high chase to the very end of the movie, Casino Royale made me want to cheer.

This is a holiday movie that will definitely be a classic in our home. The characters are bright and engaging, the story is warm and delightful but has a unique twist and some modern spunk to it. The animation style is taken directly from the original Olive book but they've made this little 2-D dog very convincing in her 3-D world.

This movie appeals to a wide range of viewers, it has funny characters for children, subtle humor for the adults, and the dialog is refreshingly snappy. Olive is hilarious as a dog who doesn't do any "dog" things. Drew Barrymore's voice is perfect for such an innocently sweet, good-hearted animal character. I loved the postman, he makes the most deliciously evil bad-guy. The songs are wonderful; jazzy, catchy and upbeat and you'll be catching yourself singing "Bah, bug and hum" for days.

The thing I liked best about this movie is that it wasn't silly, sappy, dark, heavy on the morals or boring. It was just a darling movie about a sweet little dog who wants to do her best to save Christmas.

I gave this movie a 2 because it was interesting to look at; one of the most spectacular CGI films I've ever seen. That was worth about 5 minutes of my time. The rest of the film was a complete waste.

This was the most poorly put-together children's feature-film I've seen in a long time. I saw the previews for this a long time ago and was excited to take my young daughter to it because she loves animals and movies. We were sorely disappointed.

A lot of very small children were at this movie because the previews make it look like a cuddly Ice Age-style movie that's funny and heart-warming. BEWARE! There are a lot of adult nuances and inappropriate jokes in this movie. Basically all the penguins think about is scoring another penguin with a groovy "heartsong" and they talk about it A LOT. The killer whales and leopard seals are pretty scary. This is not a kid-friendly movie.

The majority of this movie is nothing more than a "Look what we can do with our new software!" showcase. Penguins dance, sing and swim in formation. Different animals fly, waddle or swim around convincingly. Glaciers break off, cause avalanches and exciting falling/chasing scenes. At first it's awesome to look at but after a while the awe wears off and you start to wonder where the story is.

The characters are nothing short of inane. The "Elvis and Marylin Monroe" parents, the old- fashioned Scottish leader of the big penguins, the Latino party penguins and Lovelace, the televangelist-style leader of the smaller party penguins. So many characters were introduced but none of them had a very well-developed personality or storyline.

After an hour or so of showing off the technology and letting Robin Williamns have as many characters and funny lines as he can reasonably fit into 87 minutes, the story shifts gears and lurches to a conclusion. At this point 6 or 7 children all around us were asking their parents if it was time to go home. This must have happened in test audiences too because the director makes an obvious decision to quit showing off and just hurry up and end the movie. Seriously, the entire adventure, journey to save penguin-kind, reversal of the human problem and miraculous acceptance of Mumble by his friends and co-penguins is crammed into about 20 minutes. Mumble travels from his home, to some big city and back in the space almost instantly; just appearing in one location or another (confusing to say the least). Humans change their minds and stop fishing and the famine is averted..... whew! That was a lot of story to pack into just a few minutes! Finally the action then comes to a shuddering halt and all you're left with is the feeling of "that's it?"

So many stereotypes and morale-of-the-story points were introduced but none of them were very satisfactorily resolved or dealt with. Mumble is never truly accepted by his peers and he waffles back and forth between changing to fit in and just going with whatever he feels like. His mom half-heartedly stands up for him and his dad wavers between guilt and denial. And what's with "dropping the egg"? Mumble was dropped as an egg so now he's a weirdo who can't sing? What was that all about? Different tribes of penguins and different animals misunderstand and dislike each other but.... it's never really resolved. Humans are littering and stealing the fish but the answer is for all of them to tap-dance together?

The thing that disappointed me the most was the complete lack of emotional involvement in any of the characters or story lines. The penguins are close-minded and brainwashed; they dislike Mumble not only because he can't sing but because he's curious and seeks knowledge. Sure the point of the movie is to save all the penguins but you as the viewer don't actually care about them; there is no sympathy for them at all. Mumble saves the world and gets the girl and yet there's no emotional satisfaction; no feeling of fulfillment.

A great movie makes you feel for the characters, gives you something to think about and leaves you with a smile on your face. This movie did none of those things.

Having been so thoroughly let down by the previous three movies, I waited a long time to see this one. Not for its big-screen release, not for the dollar theater, not even for the DVD release... I waited until I could borrow it from the local library. I didn't miss anything.

Peter Jackson has proved that a complex and intricate fantasy novel can be translated convincingly to the big screen with Lord of the Rings. The team working with Harry Potter however, is not proving as successful. The HP movies are less of a brilliantly realized vision of JK Rowling's fantastical wizarding world and more of a caricature; all of the high points exaggerated with none of the depth and texture of the original.

As usual all the interesting details that made the books so enjoyable are completely missing. The movie lurches along from highlight to highlight, special effect to special effect with no thought for the plot whatsoever. Crucial characters are left out (Sirius, Bagman, Dobby, Winky, Fudge) while the effects-laden first challenge takes up way more screen time than necessary. Where is Dumbledore's final disagreement with Fudge? What happened to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes? Where is Percy as Crouch's assistant? Where is the back-story with Bagman, Crouch, his son and the Death Eaters? Where is the end of the movie with Dumbledore sending out his team to combat the growing threat of Voldemort's return? Where is the budding attraction between Ron and Hermione? Why does the director seem to be an advocate of Harry and Hermione getting together? No part of this story holds together, because all the little bits that tie it together are missing and it's certainly not setting OOTP up to be a success either.

With the exception of Snape and McGonagall (excellent performance as always), the rest of the cast appears to have mistaken voice-volume for acting. Characters scream and holler at each other during every critical point of the film. Hermione makes her Oscar-bid by resorting to near-tears-shouting every time she tries to make a point. Moody yells his way through each scene. Ron bumbles his way around, far more clueless and stupid than he should be. At one point Dumbledore actually grabs Harry, yells in his face and shakes him, so totally out of character for Dumbledore that I was ready to turn off the movie altogether. Harry actually doesn't do as much yelling as his fellow actors; he plods through his performance with all the emotional range of a garden rake. Apparently he thinks that if you throw out enough baffled looks and end every scene with a meaningful-seeming raised eyebrow, the audience will mistake this for a stirring performance. The end scene with Cederic, Voldemort and Harry's parents should be tense, exhilarating, frightening and passionate yet I felt nothing; Daniel Radcliffe isn't a protagonist that you can really root for.

Worst of all is the portrayal of Dumbledore. Gone is the kind and wise yet subtly dangerous old professor, to be replaced by a confused, bumbling, shouting (of course) and abrupt one. Dumbledore in the first movies was exactly as the books depicted him, this new character falls far short.

If you haven't read the books, I don't know how you could possibly expect to understand the movie on its own. It doesn't set up the 5th movie very well. I think I'll wait for that one to come out on TV to save the trouble of driving to the library to borrow it for free. It's a nice movie to look at, just don't expect to understand what is going on. All in all, a major disappointment.