Movie #003- Inkheart

Released: January 23rd, 2009
Length: 1hr 46min
Genre: Fantasy
Director: Iain Softley
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Andy Serkis

I rooted for Inkheart. It seemed like an interesting story about a man who can bring characters to life by reading them aloud. Sure, it was probably going to be a little cheesy, but overall, I was expecting a good sound 2 hour journey into books. What I got was good special effects coupled with disappointment and unrest. It felt like "Inkheart" a screen adaptation of the novel of the same name by Cornelia Funke, was thrown together too quickly. Brendan Fraser's character, Mortimer Folchart a.k.a. "Silver Tongue" who when he reads aloud brings the characters out of the story and into his world, in exchange for someone of our world going into the storyworld, is kind of flat and doesn't get nearly enough screen time. The drama surrounding him, mainly the loss of his wife into the storyworld's titular novel "Inkheart" where most of the storyworld characters are from, and his own personal demons with his "ability" all kind of happen to fast. It's like "hey I can bring books to life" and "oh by the way my wife is trapped in one". The villain and the storyworld hero, Capricon (Serkis) and Dustfinger (Bettany) respectively, give solid performances. I liked Serkis as the villain, he was funny, crude and hateable. Dustfinger was a sort of anti-hero, who was fighting his own personal desires (to be reunited with his family in the story world) with those of Brendan Fraser (who wanted his wife to be brought back). But this seems like a simple solution, does it not? Swap Dustfinger for Resa Folchart (Sienna Guillory) and problem solved. But for whatever reason, Mortimer refuses to do this just long enough for the bad guys to show up and burn the last copy of Inkheart (or so it seems) and thus trap both Dustfinger and Resa in their respective worlds. Luckily, with the help of his daughter Meggie (Eliza Bennett), and one of the forty thieves that was "read" into our world (Rafi Gavron) the group sets out on a journey to find a copy of Inkheart and right all the wrongs. The special effects are fun, in particular the characters from the Inkheart world, who have bits of text scripted on their faces. Also, the feared "Shadow", Capricorn's secret weapon, is well done and imaginative. However, as much praise as I have for this movie, I have disappointment. It never really lived up to its potential and focused too much on Dustfinger, who is really a supporting character given lead character screen time. It should have been more about Mortimer and his daughter Meggie and their ability and less running around. Overall, the movie was fairly entertaining, and had some humorous moments and some creative ones, but its not a movie I'd recommend you rush out and see. If your into fantasy story's, your welcome to give this a try, otherwise "Inkheart" is not for you.

Overall Score: (77/100) C+
Characters- B-
Story- D
Visual/Presentation- B