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Movies / On DVD / Inkheart
Inkheart

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Inkheart (2009)

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Reviews Counted:132

Fresh:52

Rotten:80

Average Rating:5.1/10

Consensus: Heavy on cliches and light on charm, this kid-lit fantasy-adventure doesn't quite get off the ground.

Rated: PG

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Theatrical Release:12-12-2008

Synopsis: Cornelia Funke’s best-selling novel, INKHEART, comes to life in director Iain Softley’s (THE SKELETON KEY, THE WINGS OF THE DOVE) feature-film adaptation of the same name. For 12 years, bookbinder... Cornelia Funke’s best-selling novel, INKHEART, comes to life in director Iain Softley’s (THE SKELETON KEY, THE WINGS OF THE DOVE) feature-film adaptation of the same name. For 12 years, bookbinder Mo (Brendan Fraser) and his daughter, Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett), have been traveling the world, poking around secondhand bookstores. Meggie correctly assumes that her father is looking for her mother, Resa (Sienna Guillory), who disappeared without a trace. What Meggie doesn’t know is that Mo is a Silvertongue, and when he reads a story aloud, the details and characters come to vivid life. But when a character comes out of a book, someone has to go back in, and Mo is searching a copy of the book, titled "Inkheart," into which Resa literally disappeared. When Mo read the story aloud, unaware of his powers, she was sucked into the story, and the fantastical novel’s villainous characters were released. Now, Mo and Meggie have to keep evil Capricorn and his henchmen from realizing their diabolical plot, and send everyone back where they belong. INKHEART is awash with colorful details. Capricorn has had to make do with a stuttering Silvertongue who delivers characters that are half-read: text from the book is tattooed on their faces, or they suffer some other malady, emerging from the book mute or with an odd physical feature. Paul Bettany is engaging as Dustfinger, a character who desperately wants to be read back into "Inkheart" and return to his family, portrayed by Bettany’s real-life love, Jennifer Connelly, in a miss-her-if-you-blink performance. Helen Mirren is good fun as eccentric, feisty bibliophile Aunt Elinor, and Jim Broadbent appears as the novel’s author, who is enthralled by the possibilities of Mo’s gift. [More]

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent, Andy Serkis, Eliza Hope Bennett, Rafi Gavron

Director: Iain Softley

Director: Iain Softley
Screenwriter: David Lindsay-Abaire
Producer: Iain Softley, Diana Pokorny, Cornelia Funke
Composer: Javier Navarrete
Studio: New Line Cinema

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Reviews for Inkheart

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81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Better an adventure movie for families that (however paradoxically) extols the value and wonder of books than yet another movie that celebrates violent revenge or asinine behavior.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
01/23/09
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Another fantasy adventure story based on a bestselling book that turns out to be a dud.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
01/23/09
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Inkheart was a busy, crowded, hugely successful book to start with....the film version retains nearly all of author Cornelia Funke's story complications. It's a mixed bag and a serious load for a movie to carry.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
01/23/09
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

Inkheart gets a pass for making books seem cool (if scary): if only it could have done the same for movies.

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
01/23/09
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

The concept of 'Inkheart' is worthy but the execution leaves viewers' heads caught in the library and their feet in the cineplex.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/23/09
John P. McCarthy
John P. McCarthy
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

It's an interesting idea, but instead of imagining an equally clever conclusion, the film eventually collapses into a series of chases and fights with a big Raiders of the Lost Ark-style special effects blowout ending.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
01/23/09
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

A movie that can produce the image of Helen Mirren astride a unicorn has some claim on the audience's interest, and a movie that can make that image seem perfectly uninteresting is in some serious trouble.

comment Comment
01/23/09
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Brendan Frasier's Mo may be able to conjure magic, but the same can't be said for this film.

Full Review Source: BrandonFibbs.com | comment Comment
01/23/09
Brandon Fibbs
Brandon Fibbs
BrandonFibbs.com

Its countless missteps earn nothing but scorn even as its wonderful intentions make us ashamed to voice them.

Full Review Source: Sci-Fi Movie Page | comment Comment
01/23/09
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Sci-Fi Movie Page

It's not that Inkheart is horrible or stupid or has something about it that scars you so badly and deeply you will never want to go to the movies again. It's just not special.

Full Review Source: WaffleMovies.com | comment Comment
01/22/09
Willie Waffle
Willie Waffle
WaffleMovies.com

Beautiful cinematography, good direction, solid supporting actors, interestingly enough story, despite its predictability, but the main character was absent.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
01/22/09
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

Despite its interest in creative expression, Inkheart's hurried pace, shorthand characterizations and regularly scheduled set-pieces obliterate all but the faintest traces of lucid thought.

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
01/22/09
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Cinematical

The story shimmers with imaginative details.

Full Review Source: Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies | comment Comment
01/22/09
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

... focused on giving the film a palpable threat of potentially fatal consequences and the characters an emotional foundation.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
01/22/09
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

purposefully confusing and, on occasion, downright indefensible

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/22/09
Bill Gibron
Bill Gibron
Filmcritic.com

Bettany's wonderful performance is as compelling as the movie itself is lackluster and downright dull.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
01/22/09
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews

Despite his name, [director] Softley plays it with a heavy hand, distracting viewers with lots of action, hideous makeup and garish costumes, but the effect is more perplexing than enlightening.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
01/22/09
Sue Pierman
Sue Pierman
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Plot holes notwithstanding, Inkheart is a well-timed and well-made family film that seems too good for the traditional January dumping grounds.

Full Review Source: FromTheBalcony | comment Comment
01/22/09
Bill Clark
Bill Clark
FromTheBalcony

While the story proves the pen is mightier than the sword, this flaccid adaptation proves the book is mightier than the film.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/22/09
Matt Stevens
Matt Stevens
E! Online

Inkheart is a valentine to books mainly by negative example -- the leaps of imagination it doesn't achieve.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment 1 Comment
01/22/09
Sheri Linden
Sheri Linden
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
all

Latest News for Inkheart

January 30, 2009: Making a movie about the magic to be found in reading books, is a little like General Motors singing the praises of riding a bike instead. Opens in new window
More...

January 22, 2009: Critics Consensus: Inkheart Is Less Than Magical
This week at the movies, we've got living literature (Inkheart, starring Brendan Fraser and Eliza Hope Bennett); political intrigue (Frost/Nixon, starring Michael Sheen and... More...

January 22, 2009: Box Office Guru Preview: Underworld Battles Oscar All-Stars
Only two new releases hit the North American box office, but in the wake of Academy Award nominations, a handful of contenders take the opportunity to expand nationwide hoping... More...

December 14, 2008: Warner Bros. Firms Up 2009 Schedule Opens in new window
From "Inkheart" to "Sherlock Holmes," the Warner Bros. slate for 2009 has been set, and ComingSoon has posted it for your perusal. More...

See All

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