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Critics Consensus: Heavy on cliches and light on charm, this kid-lit fantasy-adventure doesn't quite get off the ground.
Critic Consensus: Heavy on cliches and light on charm, this kid-lit fantasy-adventure doesn't quite get off the ground.
All Critics (142) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (54) | Rotten (88) | DVD (7)
The aesthetics of Inkheart are part of what make it such a surprisingly enjoyable experience to watch.
[Has] plenty of thrills, a smart although oft-confusing script, delightful scenery-chewing scenes from stalwarts like Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent and Andy Serkis, and a gorgeous high-concept visual style.
Seemingly intended as a celebration of the power of books, it's an occasionally incoherent, sleep-inducing picture that reduces narrative to mere mechanics.
Over and over again, characters in Inkheart wax eloquent on the power of books. But there's nothing in the movie as haunting or as compelling as the sound they make when they speak for themselves.
A flea market of fairy tales and hocus-pocus, Inkheart makes as much sense as an inkblot.
The movie never achieves the sort of transporting fantasy that formed the backbone of the novel: The limitless potential for adventure and excitement that books provide, given physical form when transplanted into our reality.
While the film does a serviceable job staying true to Funke's vision, it never manages to capture the magic of her written words.
Cobbled-together fantasy about a dad who can "read" characters in and out of books.
Kind of a NeverEnding Story-lite, Inkheart never makes full use of its strengths. The ideas about reality and fiction have already been explored better elsewhere, even in light family films.
Brendan Fraser's boyish face usually oozes charisma, but here he just looks plain bored. Which is kind of how the audience looked too.
If there's a problem for me with Inkheart, it is one of scope. This feels like it should be an epic movie, but it's not.
For all its problems, it's a sweet, clever work.
It's a family friendly tale about the joys of reading (and because of that many characters from the classic children's library show up and put in an appearance) but the subjective feeling of joy is somehow missing, much like one of those TimeLife commercials selling classic rock packages to baby boomers (" ... and who can ever forget when we used to sing this one by Kenny Loggins!"), selling your youth back to you. Better to read the actual stories to your children yourself. But the intention here is spot on.
Super Reviewer
A decent mystical family adventure film with a decent cast line up. I thought there would be a few more action scenes and mythical creatures in this, but sadly not. One for a sunday afternoon with the kids.
My hope was way too high for this movie. I love watching Brendan's movie. But this didn't meet my expectation. Their acting was way too cheesy. The plot didn't came out as good as it sounded. Sigh. Never hope too much from anything. The chances of being disappointed is always high.
I have not read the original source material but the movie has a nice wholesome quality with good direction, well used but not overused CGI. I would say a much better job of adapting a fantasy book to big screen than others, IE things like the Seeker Dark Is Rising or even Goodkinds TV series. Overall I enjoyed the show.
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