Zebraspots"Bride to Terabithia" lets you cross the gap between reality and fiction
April 7th 2010 03:50
3 1/2 stars
The magical Kingdom of Terabithia is only known to Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke. They are the King and Queen and cross a river to their enchanted place in order to escape the bullies at school and how harsh real life can be.
This film is based on the novel by Katherine Paterson. Having read the book, I can inform you the movie did not destroy its wonderful story, as a minion of the Dark Master might tear down Leslie and Jess's fort.
The opening sequence is fantastic enough to want to watch Terabithia again to see the delicate drawings created before your eyes with a combination of CG and real life (as is the rest of the movie). The drawings are of the numerous fanciful creatures we get to meet from the Kingdom.
Jess lives on a farm with his four sisters, two of whom are younger than him. His two older sisters are self-absorbed and refuse to help around the house. His youngest sister does not bother him too much, as she is only a baby, but May Belle is the typical tag-along-everywhere-and-get- on-your-nerves sister. She only wants to be like her big brother, and Jess really cares about her, but siblings can hardly be expected to get along all the time.
Leslie is the new girl. She doesn't try to fit in, she is just herself and hopes that someone else will like her for it. Everything from her clothing to the essays she writes in school says she is a very creative and impassioned person. Someone with an imagination who's not afraid to use it. She helps Jess express his wildest dreams; to pretend that his drawings aren't just colors on paper, but a whole other world waiting to break free into ours.
The child actors are terrific. Anna Sophia Robb (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and Josh Hutcherson (Zathura) work together in a way that draws you into their character as much as they are themselves. You fall in love with Jess and Leslie.
The only bad thing is the amount of computer graphics used. It is common, nowadays, to want to load all the fancy green screens and 3D particle effects you can fit into a movie to draw audiences. Production companies must believe people sitting down in a cinema don't want to have to think or use their imaginations. The overall effect is still there; we see that, just by pretending, the children can create a place where they can do anything they've ever dreamed of. It would have been a more enjoyable movie had there been more room to imagine the creatures for yourself. A good job was done on the Dark Master, however; we never truly saw him, so we were allowed to make him look as scary as we wished.
Many people would love this movie. It manages to touch both the heart and mind with its array of emotions. The fantasy of Terabithia will especially captivate children, but nevertheless one must be careful when renting this if it is intended to be shown to small ones: Terabithia is a classic with a deeper meaning than merely that of using your imagination. It begins to focus on creating bonds between friends. Two-thirds of our way into the movie, we are met with the shocking tragedy of death. Please do not let this subject turn you off of the film, horrible as it may be. The magic of Terabithia stands firm throughout the movie and will be one of those films that gets kids wanting to read the book. You want more of the enchantment with you after the movie ends; it is something that will be remembered for a long time by all who watch it.
The magical Kingdom of Terabithia is only known to Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke. They are the King and Queen and cross a river to their enchanted place in order to escape the bullies at school and how harsh real life can be.
This film is based on the novel by Katherine Paterson. Having read the book, I can inform you the movie did not destroy its wonderful story, as a minion of the Dark Master might tear down Leslie and Jess's fort.
The opening sequence is fantastic enough to want to watch Terabithia again to see the delicate drawings created before your eyes with a combination of CG and real life (as is the rest of the movie). The drawings are of the numerous fanciful creatures we get to meet from the Kingdom.
Jess lives on a farm with his four sisters, two of whom are younger than him. His two older sisters are self-absorbed and refuse to help around the house. His youngest sister does not bother him too much, as she is only a baby, but May Belle is the typical tag-along-everywhere-and-get- on-your-nerves sister. She only wants to be like her big brother, and Jess really cares about her, but siblings can hardly be expected to get along all the time.
Leslie is the new girl. She doesn't try to fit in, she is just herself and hopes that someone else will like her for it. Everything from her clothing to the essays she writes in school says she is a very creative and impassioned person. Someone with an imagination who's not afraid to use it. She helps Jess express his wildest dreams; to pretend that his drawings aren't just colors on paper, but a whole other world waiting to break free into ours.
The child actors are terrific. Anna Sophia Robb (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and Josh Hutcherson (Zathura) work together in a way that draws you into their character as much as they are themselves. You fall in love with Jess and Leslie.
The only bad thing is the amount of computer graphics used. It is common, nowadays, to want to load all the fancy green screens and 3D particle effects you can fit into a movie to draw audiences. Production companies must believe people sitting down in a cinema don't want to have to think or use their imaginations. The overall effect is still there; we see that, just by pretending, the children can create a place where they can do anything they've ever dreamed of. It would have been a more enjoyable movie had there been more room to imagine the creatures for yourself. A good job was done on the Dark Master, however; we never truly saw him, so we were allowed to make him look as scary as we wished.
Many people would love this movie. It manages to touch both the heart and mind with its array of emotions. The fantasy of Terabithia will especially captivate children, but nevertheless one must be careful when renting this if it is intended to be shown to small ones: Terabithia is a classic with a deeper meaning than merely that of using your imagination. It begins to focus on creating bonds between friends. Two-thirds of our way into the movie, we are met with the shocking tragedy of death. Please do not let this subject turn you off of the film, horrible as it may be. The magic of Terabithia stands firm throughout the movie and will be one of those films that gets kids wanting to read the book. You want more of the enchantment with you after the movie ends; it is something that will be remembered for a long time by all who watch it.
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