In a clear-cut case of arrested development, the film that crowns Luc Besson's career is a magical phantasmagoria for the kids, and a derivative mess for their parents.
Arthur and the Invisibles (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:86
Fresh:18
Rotten:68
Average Rating:4.5/10
Consensus: Arthur wastes its big-name voice talent on a predictable script and substandard CG animation.
Rated: U [See Full Rating] for fantasy action and brief suggestive material.
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Childrens
Theatrical Release:02-02-2007
Synopsis: Director Luc Besson (THE FIFTH ELEMENT) tries his hand at a children's film with ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES. Based on a book, this adventure follows Arthur (Freddie Highmore) as he journeys in his... Director Luc Besson (THE FIFTH ELEMENT) tries his hand at a children's film with ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES. Based on a book, this adventure follows Arthur (Freddie Highmore) as he journeys in his own backyard to save his home from greedy land developers. When his grandfather disappears, Freddie follows a series of clues that lead him to the land of the Minimoys (aka the Invisibles). Arthur's entrance into their realm takes the film from live-action to computer animation, changing Arthur from a 10-year-old boy into one of the Minimoys. The elf-like people he encounters are so tiny that insects dwarf them. Their warrior princess (voiced by Madonna) is ready to ascend the throne of the tiny kingdom. But first she and Arthur must join forces to outwit the evil Malthazar (voiced by David Bowie), who is intent on destroying the kindhearted race. ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES boasts a cast of talented actors. Mia Farrow plays Arthur's concerned grandmother, which is quite a change from her malevolent nanny in THE OMEN. The trio of musicians-turned-actors (Madonna, Snoop Dogg, and Bowie) are all fun in their vocal roles, and Bowie particularly shines as the villain. Other standouts include Robert De Niro, Jimmy Fallon, Harvey Keitel, and Jason Bateman, while Highmore brings the same wide-eyed wonder to the screen as he did in CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. In fact, ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES shares a similar imaginative spirit with the works of Tim Burton and Roald Dahl. Though Besson's previous films have been adults-only fare like LA FEMME NIKITA, he brings a sense of childlike awe to this project. [More]
Starring: Robert De Niro, Snoop Dogg, Madonna, Freddie Highmore
Starring: Robert De Niro, Snoop Dogg, Madonna, Freddie Highmore, Mia Farrow, Jimmy Fallon, Jason Bateman, Harvey Keitel, Anthony Anderson, Chazz Palminteri
Director: Luc Besson
Director: Luc Besson
Screenwriter: Celine Garcia
Producer: Emmanuel Prevost
Composer: Eric Serra
Studio: Weinstein Company
Reviews for Arthur and the Invisibles
Here is an overproduced, oversugared semi-animated children's fantasy adventure from Luc Besson that made me want to cringe into my plush seat, never to re-emerge.
Brightly coloured fantasy adventure with a decent premise, but the animated sections don't really work, despite the efforts of a talented cast.
Besson's labour of love is a feast for the eyes but leaves the imagination distinctly undernourished.
Looks like European animation is still light years behind the US and Japan. Thank goodness for Highmore and Farrow — if only the whole film had been live-action.
Luc Besson’s half-baked live-action/animated fantasy looks like it was invented on the hoof: it’s erratically plotted, poorly animated, overly derivative and too insufferably cute to interest anyone above undemanding toddler age.
Several parts of the narrative don't gel, feeling designed simply to look cool or sound funny.
A candy-colored fusion of Dahl, Dr. Seuss and the director's own mischeviousness
Uma fábula divertida e inocente que conta com uma eficiente animação digital e traz Besson em um bom momento, o que é algo cada vez mais raro.
In a year when a lot of big-screen animation felt like it came rolling off the video game assembly line, a little originality goes a long way.
Things unfold in rote fashion, with nature-based gadgetry no more clever than those of The Flintstones.
The Minimoys are teeny-weeny kind folk with a keen fashion sense and a wicked-cool lair. They're just like what the Borrowers would have been like if they had lived in the field behind the Urban Outfitters production factory.
A lazy fairy-tale pastiche reveling in mite-size cherubs, which cribs from gnomic mythology, elvish lore, Harry Potter, Arthurian legend and can’t-pay-the-rent melodrama.
I'm not sure what creeped me out most in Luc Besson's "Arthur and the Invisibles," the awful animation or Madonna lending her voice to a "child" princess.
The story is just incoherent, and the faster it moves, the more frantic it seems.
Luc Besson has made a fair share of artfully bad movies. Arthur and the Invisibles -- half-live-action, half-CG kid's adventure -- is (by a hair) more bad-bad, like The Fifth Element, than good-bad, like The Big Blue.
With its Day-Glo colors and fast pace, this $80 million live action/animated film may be the first acid trip for kids.
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