Inkheart Reviews

This was a very enjoyable film; maybe not as exciting and a bit more contrived than I'd been looking forward to, but it was still very enjoyable in the main.

But one thing stood out above any other in this film; and that was: Paul Bettany's performance as Dustfinger.

He was just brilliant, and absolutely stole the film for me. I thought he was a good actor anyway, but the moment he came on I had to stop and think "wow!", and I continued to be impressed throughout the film, as his character development just got more and more interesting. I felt far more sympathy with his character than Brendan Frasers (even though I think he's fantastic!), and I felt that he was the true 'main character' of the film (in the same way as Sam is to Lord of the Rings).

If anyone is unsure about seeing Inkheart, I would suggest that it is a must-see if only for Paul Bettany's absolutely stunning performance; he is intense, emotional, funny, troubled, heroic and just plain brilliant.

Also high praise for Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent, who were very refreshing. I did feel more could have been done with Andy Serkis and Brendan Fraser, they didn't wow me as much as I'd expected.

But overall a very enjoyable film!!

INKHEART a movie created from the same titled young adult novel by cornelia funke--in the dvd extras--a favorite passage of the author that wasn't included in the movie is read aloud by 12-year- old eliza bennett who plays meggie in the film. ALTHOUGH significantly altered from the book, the adventure is still worth taking. THE MAGIC is muddled, but this fantasy tale conjures up intriguing characters, enchanting adventures and an infectious love of reading. BRENDAN FRASER stars as mo folchart who is keeping a secret from his daughter meggie and aunt elinor(helen mirren). mo is a SILVERTONGUE and when reading aloud from a book--now and then--a character escapes from the book to live and breathe in our world. the drawback to this occurence is that when a character pops out---a living person pops into the story taking its place. mo's wife RESA (sienna guillory) had disappeared into a book nine years before leaving a character--dustfinger (the fantastic paul bettany) in this world. the book, was of course INKHEART. mo had traveled across europe looking for another copy of inkheart. dustfinger had taken the original book when he set out to see this world. mo and meggie have again set out to look for books. it is mo's habit to visit bookshops while he searches. as a bookbinder, he repairs precious old books belonging to the shops he visits. they come upon dustfinger in their travels and he complicates the story in several ways. aunt elinor who has a housefull of books that she treasures more than her own life also appears and becomes a serious character. i will stop now and let you decide to watch inkheart or not. cornelia has written more about these characters in INKSPELL, so there could be a sequel.

''Words can be very powerful...''

A young girl discovers her father has an amazing talent to bring characters out of their books and must try to stop a freed villain from destroying them all, with the help of her father, her aunt, and a storybook's hero.

Brendan Fraser: Mo 'Silvertongue' Folchart

I lose count at the amount of fantasy films that seem to be churned out of film studios nowadays. After LOTR and the HP series escalated in showing public interest and a great source of inspiration, film studios are capitalizing once again on this genre. Unfortunately resulting in fantasy blunders like Eragon, a mediocre Narnia series, or the below average Golden Compass. So where does Inkheart fall and fare among all these clones and repetitive efforts? I'd say it lands squarely into being not something of greatness, but rather mindless fun like City Of Ember was.

Character development and elaboration seems to be lacking or missing, while action and plot seems to be detailed in some areas while lacking in others. For instance the concept of reading books and everything coming to life from them, could of been done so much better. Inkheart goes for a safe option, it neither goes all out on this idea but it feels to me like some alternative take on The Last Action Hero but with books instead of films. Don't get me wrong, there are some brilliant ideas on offer here, and I believe it must be an intriguing book to read but it's hardly new or awe inspiring.

So performances, firstly Paul Bettany as Dustfinger, almost proves to be about as half annoying as he was in A Knights Tale, he just seems to be typecast and miscast these days, Inkheart is a perfect example of this.
Brendan Fraser as Mo, seems to be the same problem, he always goes for these family father type role figures, whether it be Mummy or Journey to the center of the Earth, you know exactly what to expect if he's in it. Which isn't necessarily a good thing.
Helen Mirren is no Gandalf, Andy Serkis seems to be having too much fun as Capricorn, Jim Broadbent looks like a weathered old leaf and some girl, Eliza Bennet shows us an awful dress and deep voice in a bizaare final showdown. We even get Rafi Gravon showing us some Prince of Persia antics.

Whats funny about Inkheart is the fact it has all these famous stories, and it has creatures, people and monsters coming to life from a silver tongued reader. We see flying monkeys from Oz, A croc from Peter Pan, even a Minotaur. Sadly some concepts and ideas aren't elaborated on. For instance when character's swap over, one thing comes into our world, while another is swapped. The explanation or elaboration for this is left strangely missing. Inkheart at it's heart is a film for the family, there is no doubt. It's hardly deep or educational nor is it new or ground breaking. Upon reflection it is fun and the time flies by while watching it. While a dark nemesis at it's peak called the Shadow was abit Lord of the Rings or Never Ending Story inspired I suppose it can be forgiven for not hiding it's efforts to emulate them.
Andy Serkis getting his just desserts also seemed to be a rip off of Philosophers Stone, which was amusing if what something of a parody of misconception again on strains of originality.

If you have children or young friends then this would be a good watch for any fantasy appreciative fan, while also giving some escapism to boot.
Overall the effects are without fault, the music accompanying does its job, and the cast turn in so-so acting and charismatic efforts.