This movie fails in many points. It fails in rendering a proper account of the book. It is badly adapted in contemporary (2014) area. It fails by mixing American Pie-style jokes in an fantastical novel with a coming-of-age undertone. It thus fails in finding its public : - too mature for the youngones. - too childish for elders. There is no point in this film. A child who is a looser, afraid of water, will finally be able to take over his fears and grow up a bit. So what ? We have seen this thousands of time in much better ways. Some special effects (very few actually) do not redeem its overall value. Not worth its lenght. Should have been issued as TV-only.
2 Reviews
Nice movie
gianmarcoronconi30 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
From my point of view this is a very good children's film that alternates moments of action with good teen drama but it is also quite banal because like many children's films of this type it is not excessively inventive and always deals with two boys defined as nerds who make a growth path then becoming better seen both by themselves and by others, but this evolution is slightly forced in some points so as to seem really not very credible and the whole film in general has some forzture that make it slightly laconic. So even if the film is not too inventive, the addition of the alchemical magic element gives it a good touch that makes it quite interesting as a film.
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