Flyerplesys Perfectly adorable

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Claire Osullivan One of my all time favourite movies, the storyline is great, the action was amazing, and the romance wasn't the main point of the story line the budding romance formed naturally and wasn't focused on until the feelings were realised. This was very refreshing, I loved every thing about this movie. I would highly recommend that anyone should watch it. A fairytale with mystery, romance, a curse, and magic.

Sammy AF Basically, this movie is about a young girl who moves to her uncle's house due to the death of her father. What she doesn't know that it includes a whole new world to her and she plays an important role in it.In my opinion, this movie was not completely horrible but filled with inaccuracies. At times I kept thinking to my self, "Why didn't he just do that?" An example came to mind when the young girl and an accomplice were found by the villain. They simply ran, or let's say jogged, away from him while he simply stood there yelling, "I will catch you!" Also, towards the end the Chef had miraculously said that he knew exactly where Maria had gone when Maria had never even mentioned any specific place she would be. She simply said, "I will know the place when I see it." And she was talking about one tree in a forest. A place filled with trees!One minute, the villain was in the forest and after another we see him in a scene a top an enormous cliff in some sort of temple. The group who were searching for Maria Merryweather were also in the forest when they suddenly entered the temple as well. Some stuff just doesn't make sense to me.The acting was below par. Dakota Richard's acting was acceptable compared to the adult actors. Juliet Stevenson put herself too much into the character that her expressions in specific situations were just awful. When this movie started out, I thought it had great potential. But the actors made the dialogue laughable and the resolution to the story was too much to bear. The scene with the horses and the wave was just completely random and extremely unnecessary. How the unicorn managed to solve the horrific conflict seemed a little too much. The setting was perfect for the story and the costumes were adequate for the time line but some aspects were useless. For example, Maria's tiny bedroom door that you almost have to crawl through. I cannot comprehend why that was necessary in the first place. Many more presented itself but none come to mind at the moment.To bring this review to a conclusion...I would recommend this movie to parents who want to entertain their kids with silly fantasy movies or just to show them a good time. Children would appreciate this movie. Overall acting was atrocious apart from the young Dakota Richards who continued to prove her skills and as for the story...It was a great story with a lot of potential but was shut down with the poor choice of actors, the horrible special effects, the humorous inaccuracies, and bad directing.If you have nothing better to do and happened to find this movie flipping through the channels, then it is an okay movie to pass the time.

flyingamon Having seen Dakota Blue Richards in The Golden Compass which I loved immensely, I was excited to see her again in another fantasy movie. And while this is a fantasy movie of a different type, I must say I enjoyed this just as much. This movie has a really simple plot which develops slowly but I do think most things are explained in one way or another. However I would have loved a bit more background story about some of the characters such as Robin and his father Coeur De Noir. I have not read the book so I am sure the director left some things out that weren't developed in the movie. There is obviously a suggestion there could be a relationship between Robin and Maria. The ending seemed a bit rushed and I had loved they gave that some more attention, some more screening time. I must say that this movie was maybe not so good if Dakota didn't give such a strong performance as Maria Merryweather. The others really couldn't have carried this movie but play their role well. There is some humor in it in the characters of Miss Heliotrope (she is a little burpy) and the chef (French accent so cliché) which the children will love. I didn't find that funny but wasn't bothered with it either. The story in itself was serious and good and that was what mattered to me. And there are fantasy elements like unicorn, black lion which are mostly symbolic. It's no Chronicles of Narnia, not as overwhelming as Golden Compass or Stardust but a sweet little movie that has its place in the fantasy genre. I had no regrets seeing it.

Girish Gowda For me, it is very hard to pass up a fantasy film. And when I had the chance to see this, I didn't think twice. I thought the movie would be in the same league as Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia series, but it falls short. The way the film is executed makes it seem quite silly. Based on the novel 'The Little White Horse' (which I hear is good) by Elizabeth Goudge, the film tells the tale of two ancient powerful families who fall out with one other. The Moon Princess is believed to bring them together, or else, predictably, the world will end. The movie is partly adventurous and partly funny. The funny moments are never funny for the adults, but the children will really enjoy the movie. It has underlying themes like pride, the power of love and honesty. Dakota Richards makes you like the movie because she seems so immersed in her character. Natascha McElhone, Tim Curry and Ioan Gruffudd never come off as authentic and it hurts the movie. They all have a very short fuse and could blow off like a six year old kid if they are pushed too much.An orphan girl, thirteen year old Marla Merryweather (Dakota Blue Richards) inherits nothing but a book of family secrets, 'The Ancient Chronicles Of Moonacre Valley', from her dead father. Without a proper home, she has no choice, but to move in with her grumpy uncle, Sir Benjamin Merryweather (Ioan Gruffudd) at Moonacre Manor along with her nanny, Miss Heliotrope (Juliet Stevenson). The book that her father left her tells her of an ancient curse placed upon her family. The daughter of Coeur De Noir (Tim Curry), Loveday (Natascha McElhone) is the Moon Princess and she has been gifted magical pearls which will give the power enormous power to control everything. Sir Merryweather and Loveday are in love and are about to be married. On the day of the marriage, the pearls have their effect on Sir Merryweather and Coeur De Noir and they show their true colours. Loveday runs away with the pearls and goes into hiding. But Coeur and Sir Merryweather think that the pearls are with the other one and they are bitter about it. Loveday has lost her powers and Maria is the apparent heir to the Moon Princess title and she has to save them all before the ascension of the moon for the 500th time.While the story seems to be fascinating, director Gabor Csupo, who was also responsible for the wonderful 'The Bridge To Terabithia', cannot really get the magic working here. Dakota Richards as Maria comes across as a cross between shy and adamant, without being able to really establish her true nature. Tim Curry who is quite popular in these kinds of films doesn't really have much to do in this film. He is supposed to be sinister and menacing, instead he is an idiot. Ioan is a troubled man who doesn't stick to his decisions and keeps acting like a baby, as does Natascha's character. The costumes, sets are authentic and the special effects, which is the most important requirement in fantasy films are good enough not to appear fake or over the top. There are unicorns and black lions which will give you a sense of wonder. Not a bad watch as long as you don't think more than a 12 year old kid would.6/10