DVD : Arthur and the Invisibles [2007]

Rating: - Pants!
This is an awful, awful film. The plot is pathetic and makes no sense. In fact it annoyed me whilst watching it because it was so bad. Even my 7 year old got bored and started asking questions about why he was doing this and that. (Arthur that is).

The only good thing about this film is The child actor who plays Arthur who is brilliant and stars in the Spiderwick Chronicles, which is a fantastic film and shouldn't be mentioned in the same breathe as this drivel.

I was tempted to ask for my money back at the end. Don't buy this film don't even watch it when it comes on TV. I'd rather watch ten back to back episodes of The One Show than watch this again, and that's saying something. You've been warned.

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Rating: - This film is dreadful
I actually shudder in a Pavlovian response when I see this movie is showing on TV. It is a terrible film whose only redeeming feature is that my child loved it. It will be enjoyed by children but adults? the decision, to watch or not to watch? remember you will lose a potentially crucial 90 or so minutes of your life in the process.
Madonna plays a spoilt princess and her whiny nasal voice starts to grate very quickly. For once she is all too convincing. I actually enjoyed the Club scene with Snoop Dogg as a welcome break in the dire proceedings. All the characters and their dialogue seemed to have been created with an intent to irritate, irk and annoy. Perhaps this film should be seen in order to preserve the equilibrium, it is so bad you will enjoy the good all the more by comparison.

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Rating: - Charming and entertaining family film
This delightful little adventure was greatly enjoyed by my two small children but also had enough more sophisticated jokes and challenges to be entertaining for the adults in the family.

"Arthur and the invisibles" is a mix of live-action and CGI which merge seamlessly into each other as the action switches between two scales - that on which humans lives, and that of tiny elves the size of an ant and known as the invisibles or "Minimoys."

Arthur, a ten year old boy played and voiced by Freddie Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) is staying with his grandmother (Mia Farrow) in Conneticut. His parents, who are trying to cope with a difficult financial era, have packed him off, first to boarding school in England (conveniently explaining Freddie's English accent) and then to his grandparents' farm during the vacation, while they try to find work "in the City".

Arthur's grandfather Archibald (Ron Crawford), an engineer who spent many years working on projects in Africa, has mysteriously disappeared some four years before. Somewhere on his land, he had hidden a valuable collection of rubies with which he had been presented by a grateful African tribe. This treasure is desperately needed because a greedy developer (Adam Lefevre) is setting up the compulsory purchase of Archibald's home, following which he plans flatten the entire area for redevelopment.

With two days to go before the developer will be able to evict Arthur and his grandmother, Arther finds a message from his grandfather about his mission to get the rubies back, which tells Arthur how to contact this microscopic tribe. The adventure which follows is more extraordinary than he could have imagined ...

The world of the tiny Minimoys is brought to life in charming CGI with a star studded voice cast. Robert de Niro voices the King of the Minimoys with Madonna playing his daughter, Princess Selenia, and Harvey Keitel his minister, Miro. Snoop Dogg voices Max, the proprietor of a micro-nightclub: Jason Bateman provides the voice of the sinister Darkos, who is the son of the even more sinister "Evil M," brilliantly voiced by David Bowie.

While most of the film is aimed at small children, there are plenty of jokes which will amuse grown-ups. For example, when using a clockwork toy car to escape from danger at high speed, Arthur says "Just hope there arn't any speed cameras down here or we've had it."

Extras on the DVD include music videos for two of the songs: "Quest for Love" performed by Jewel and "Beautiful Day" performed by Elijah.

Overall, the plot isn't the most original I've ever seen, and the film might not appeal to some older teenagers or to adults who have difficulty entering into the spirit of children's stories. It isn't in quite the same league as "The Incredibles" or the first two "Shrek" films which is why I've given this film four stars rather than five.

However, the vast majority of small children will enjoy "Arthur and the Invisibles" - mine certainly did - and many parents will not find it too difficult to watch with their children.

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Rating: - an enjoyable and enteraining family film
i found this film an excellent film for all ages, the animation was fantastic and so was the story, this film brings magics, hope and dreams out in to the real world.
As a believer of magic, i was amazed by a film that was funny and enjoyable and made children believe in magic and also quite funny as it was an adventure film too.
this is a film that anybody of any age can watch, as it is enjoyable and very enteraining, very enjoyable well worth it.

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Rating: - Good but could be better.
This is a good film, funny in places but with a plot which sadly gets lost along the way. It starts well but the middle leaves you feeling "OK what happened there"? and approaching the end I kept thinking "well what about the treasure"? Which is the reason for Arthur starting his adventure in the first place, how it ended was disappointing. Shame about the plot this could have been an excellent film.