By Chris Corpus | Image property of The Weinstein Company.
Arthur and the Invisibles
My first thought after watching Arthur and the Invisibles was that, as far as children’s films go, it was better than expected. But then, I wondered if I was selling kids short.
We don’t often expect children’s films to have the range of more adult fare. Storylines don’t have to go as deep and actors aren’t expected to have the chops of more seasoned professionals. The problem is, this film features several seasoned actors. Robert De Niro, David Bowie, Harvey Keitel, Madonna, and Jason Bateman all lend their vocal talents to the film. With these stars, one would expect a story to equal those made by Pixar. However, here the story is only engaging in short bursts, and it lacks the most important quality of a children’s film – heart.
DVD Review: Arthur and the Invisibles
Freddie Highmore, who impresses me in most things he does, stars as Arthur and does a good job in his first voiceover work. Unfortunately any scenes intended to show Arthur’s heart and drive just seem overly sappy and not as meaningful as they could be. The interaction between Arthur and his Granny (played by Mia Farrow) is so dry that it’s questionable how heartfelt they are meant to be.
The CGI also works in spurts. There are scenes of very entertaining detailed CGI and then several others where the characters are far too plastic and stiff.
With kids being presented amazingly detailed films with deep heartwarming stories like Finding Nemo and Shrek, is it fair to assume that this movie would entertain them? Arthur and the Invisibles is entertaining enough for a casual evening and of course it’s not intended to be Citizen Kane, but with a cast like this, the film could’ve achieved much more.
The special features on this DVD release are pretty entertaining. There is a very nice documentary that follows the many seasoned actors as they lay down audio for their characters. The only failing here was the obvious lack of video or mention of Madonna and her character. Was she afraid to be associated with the film or holding out for more money? Either way, the documentary ended up being more interesting than the film itself.
There is also a nice nod to the younger fans of the film. The filmmakers held an online contest for young fans to create their own “mashed-up” trailer of Arthur and the Invisibles. The winner had his trailer shown on the disc and it holds up to some professionally made trailers!
Again, this film should entertain the family for a simple evening at home, but if you find the children bored with the film, show them the voiceover documentary. Maybe that will stretch their minds a bit more.
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