Thehibikiew Not even bad in a good way

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

movieoh I watched this because Ioan Gruffudd is one of the actors. This character can't compare with his role as Horatio Hornblower, but he probably had a lot less to work with, script-wise, with this movie. I would have liked to have known why his character didn't seem to believe in the whole pearl story. Why did he hide the book if he didn't believe? If he did believe, why hadn't he been working to help break the curse, or why didn't he help Maria to do so? Maria's nanny was supposed to be funny, but she was a little too bumbling for my taste. The men in black would definitely be scary for children, so I personally wouldn't let children watch this movie. The lion reminded me of Aslan, which is a good association. Spoiler alert: I'm not exactly sure why Maria was willing to sacrifice her life at the end. It was noble, but I'm not sure they convinced me that she was invested enough in the whole thing to be willing to sacrifice her life. I gave this movie a seven, despite some misgivings, because of Ioan, because it was a pretty clean movie, and because it had a happy ending. Themes of sacrifice and the need for humility fit well with what the Bible teaches about Jesus Christ, so that was also a plus.

SnoopyStyle Young Maria Merryweather (Dakota Blue Richards) loses her father leaving her orphaned and penniless. She goes to live with her uncle Sir Benjamin (Ioan Gruffudd) at the mysterious Moonacre Manor. Maria finds a world of ancient feud with the De Noir family. She is the last Moon Princess and she must find the magic pearls before the next moonrise or else a dark curse will doom the Merryweather family.There is a lot of history and backstory to go through. Based on book The Little White Horse, there's a lot of explaining for the first half. There is a lack of magic in this fantasy movie. The Moonacre Manor is supposed to be rundown, but it's ruined state has no atmosphere. It looked cheap rather than moody or Gothic. That goes for all the other sets and FX. All of it looked cheap. The story rambles on and on. It lacks adventure, tension, and importantly joy. The great actors can do nothing with this mess of material.

JCR-4 This is a film suited to children so perhaps I shouldn't be writing this review, although my two children didn't seem overly impressed. The problem I have with this film is that we are served up with what has become a very much repeated storyline over recent years after LOTR. Inevitably we have a piece of jewelery that holds magic powers, that has been lost and lead to feuding families, and the little star of the film must rectify matters. The sets and costumes are top notch and are what make the film really worth watching. The acting is mediocre to say the least, in particular Tim Curry as one of the feuding family heads, although I will say that Dakota Blue Richards as the child puts in a decent performance. Very few of the characters do anything that makes you really empathize with them, and I don't recall being moved in any one moment of this long film. I give it a 5 out of 10 thanks to the sets and costumes.

Yuliya11 Whatever you do, if you liked the book, don't see this movie. The whole idea of the book is rather ruined in order to make it appeal to people who didn't read the wonderful book. Starting with the fact that it isn't actually a fantasy book. So many things are added simply to make it seem more "magical" when that isn't what the book was about, and many things are just entirely wrong or tossed out so there isn't confusion when an idea was really quite simple. Everything is overdone to the extreme. The simple elegance in the description in the book is lost. I would only recommend seeing this movie if all you want is a run-of-the mill fantasy princess movie. I wouldn't say it has spark or shine at all. Don't expect anything new or a decent depiction of the wonderful story and world created by Elizabeth Goudge.