It’s not too bad for the big family festive effort, but just not a scratch on the book. Plus, little kids rarely fare well on film, and this is no exception – although they bugged me less on the small screen than large: I walked out of the cinema doubting I could face the sequel, knowing that the irritating little boy was getting a bigger role!

Read the book just once, a few years back, so I don’t remember many of the details—but I do remember that I didn’t go on and read any of the other books because I was so sick of the characters by the end. ;) My impression of the movie is a lot better than my memory of the book, but this probably has something to do with Sam Elliott’s presence, the voice of Ian McKellen as Ioric, the on-screen cuteness of various characters, including Pantalaimon, and the fact that I didn’t have to read the sometimes insipid narrative and dialogue. Not the most coherent movie ever, but at least it makes more sense than Dragon Wars, and it’ll do for a fantasy fix if you can stand the “it’s all about the kids” plotline. The costumes were worth a look, too, and the soundtrack was nondescript to pretty good.

this was one of perch + i’s friday night movies. neither of us were familiar with the books, although i did go out and purchase them after. i didn’t always understand the movie. one of the things that confused us was, where did the bear store his armour when not in use? did he have amazingly large, invisible pockets???

maybe if i was a 11 year old girl i would have enjoyed this movie, but being an adult burly man, i just didnt get it. even if i was an 11 year old girl i think i would have just been confused most of the time. the plot was lame, what little there was, characters didnt make any sense, and everything that happened seemed to be centered around making this one random little girl happy and feel important. british accents seemed to abound but for no particular reason, in fact there was no reason attached to anything at all in this entire film, i guess that because theyre in a parallel universe where everyone’s a twat. its like someone said, ok, lets take some of that harry potter shit, good good, and mix in some dr doolittle, and wha-bam! sure fire success!

but the most frustrating thing about this movie is the end. as sam elliot and some sexy witch are flying around, the little girl plops down against the bear (which for some reason is still there) and proceeds to give us a rundown of what’s going to happen in the next movie. then ta-ta, the end, roll 10 minutes of credits.
im reminded of the first super mario brothers movie, and its cliffhanger ending, and then how it completely bombed at the box office and the assumed sequel was never made. well i sincerely hope history repeats itself.

I read the book years ago, and while I was aware that they’d have to cut back on the more controversial aspects, it didn’t seem too cut back. Friends who hadn’t read the book loved it and could totally tell what “the Authority” was meant to be.