MOVIE REVIEW: Inkheart

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Rating: PG

Distributed by: New Line Cinema

Released:  January 23, 2009

Directed by: Iain Softley

Stars:

• Brendan Fraser as Mo Folchart (The Mummy, Journey to the Center of the Earth, GI Joe,)
• Eliza Bennett as Megan Folchart (Nanny McPhee)
• Paul Bettany  as Dustfinger (A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code, Master and Commander; The Far Side of the World)
• Helen Mirren as Aunt Elinor (Gosford Park, Calendar Girl, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets,)
• Andy Serkis as Capricorn (The Lord of the Rings)
• Jim Broadbent as Fenoglio (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
• Rafi Gavron as Farid (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playhouse)

Premise: 

      What would you do, if you could read characters out of books, into our world?  And what would you do, if, when you read a character out, someone from our world went into the book?  This is the premise of Inkheart a movie based off the first book in the popular “Ink-Trilogy” by Cornelia Funke.    According to the movie, some people have this unique and incredible gift of reading characters to life, but most don’t realize it and when they do, it is oftentimes too late.  Such is the case with Mo Folchart,(Brendan Fraser,).  At first unaware of his special “silvertongue” abilities, Mo soon finds out about them after experiencing disastrous results while reading a book out loud.  Now, nine years later, the movie begins with Mo desperately trying to find a copy of Inkheart, the book he was reading when all his troublestarted.  Teaming up with his Aunt Elinor, (Helen Mirren,) a feisty old woman with a love for books, and his daughter Megan, (Eliza Bennett,)they soon join forces with Dustfinger,(Paul Bettany,)the magical fire juggler, a young Arabian boy named Farid, (Rafi Gavron,) and Fenoglio,(Jim Broadbent,)the old author of Inkheart.  Together, they face off against the evil Capricorn (Andy Serkis,) and his henchman in a desperate attempt to make right the damage done by Mo’s reading. 

Production:

      Directed and produced by Iain Softley,(Hackers, Wings of the Dove, K-Pax,)this movie succeeds onseveral points.  The acting, though sometimes cliché, as a whole, comes across as genuine. 16 year old Eliza Bennett struggles at times to portray the 12 year old innocence of Megan, but overall does very well.  Indeed, some of the acting is very good; several of the interactions between Brendan Fraser and Paul Bettany are quite brilliant, and Andy Serkis comes across as a very believable villain.  If I had one complaint, it would probably be the storyline, which can prove confusing to audiences not familiar with the book itself.  However, what Inkheart lacks in story, it makes up in intensity.  The suspense and action never slow throughout the entire movie, and the momentum from the action carries through all the way to the end.  Inkheart is definitely not your average, slower paced children’s movie. 

Cautions:

• Some Relational Issues
• A brief moment of immodesty related to cleavage
• Some brief, mild violence
• Language
• Overall Dark Thematic Elements and Undertones

   The relational issues, violence, and the immodesty are very, very brief. The immodesty is in a brief scene where Dustfinger’s marten steals keys from Capricorn’s evil mother. The keys are in a rather revealing place, and although it isn’t all the way exposed, most parents will want to either skip the scene, or at least watch through it beforehand to determine if they want their children to see it.  The relational issues are between Megan and Mo, but nothing very major.  Finally, the bloodshed is little more than some hand to hand fighting, and a scene where Mo gets his arm cut with a knife. 

      More serious to most parents will be the language and the thematic elements.  In Inkheart’s defense, there is relatively little language, and it is clearly within the confines of its PG rating.  However, the vulgarity is not hidden or muffled in any way, and you would have to be deaf to miss the occurrences. 

      The thematic elements however, are probably the biggest caution I would have.  Obviously, Inkheart deals with magic, and while this might be a problem for some parents, I am mainly referring to the dark undertones present in the film.  There are very few light hearted scenes in the movie, and the villains are simply creepy.

      The language and the dark undertones are largely reflections of the book itself; although the movie deviates several times from the book Inkheart’s storyline, it manages to retain the occasional vulgarity and the dark and scary undertones present in its namesake.  Scenes where the evil characters break into a library and burn all the books, read a monster out of a book, and capture Mo and his daughter  come across as sinister and disturbing.  Overall, the dark feel of the movie will probably be the biggest concern most parents have about Inkheart.

Conclusion:     

      With a fascinating plot, and decent acting, Inkheart definitely makes for a good Friday night movie.  Older audiences, especially book lovers will probably enjoy the dry humor, and the tip of the hat this movie pays to many classic books such as The Wizard of Oz, Lord of the Rings, and Peter Pan.  However, the subtle humor and book references will probably not resonate with younger viewers as much as the dark undercurrents that are prevalent.    In conclusion, I would definitely recommend Inkheart to more mature audiences, but would not promote the movie for younger viewers. Instead, I’d encourage parents to get The Lion, The Witch or the Wardrobe, or another fantasy movie with less intensity for those children who are not quite ready for the darker elements present in the film.