Pretty Good

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The acting in this movie is really good.

To anyone who has said this movie was better than the original movie, I must say I don't agree with you both. The other film had finesse, taking a simple thing like a comic book and cartoon character from the days of animation yore and made it into something with heart, comedy, brilliance, rolled into a neat little package. Either this was made simply to cash in on the previous movie's success or Casper's name alone, because I found all of the continuity errors completely destroying the film more than anything else.This is a prequel? No talent was put together into even writing a decent script, and the acting is... oh lord. Steven Guttenberg, sir, I believe you ought to go back and continue doing Police Academy again. I guess the 80's thing hasn't left you so please, go back with it.And the sad part of this movie is, it's just one in the following sequels that would come that would make Casper ought to consider being as ticked off as the Ghostly trio themselves. Someone stop, or at least get some people to reinvigorate the heart that went into Kat and Dr. Harvey in the original movie.

Considering this was made AFTER the original Casper, the effects are a lot worse. The acting is diabolical and the story is terrible. The only thing that is any good in this film is James Earl Jones' voice. I do understand that this is SUPPOSED to be a kids movie but for very little kids it might be a little scary and for very big kids, they'll have a field day ripping into this movie. Enough said I think.

This is the kind of attitude the original "Casper" should have had.In "Casper: A Spirited Beginning", the first film is basically forgotten as Casper finds himself thrown off a train headed for ghost-training camp an dlanding in Deedstown, where he manages to scare everybody except a small boy (Barrett)who happens to love ghosts but spends most of his time being bullied by other kids, mentored by a kind-hearted teacher (Loughlin) and trying to get the attention of his workaholic father (Guttenberg).But whereas the first movie's themes were a little too dark for all ages, this one basically touches on topics most kids can understand; being misunderstood, wanting their parents love, getting even with the bullies, making new friends and preserving local history (okay, maybe not ALL kids, but most of them).There are some great effects here, but not as dazzling as the ones in the first "Casper". You can how mechanical the FX make the ghosts move here, especially when they talk. Yet the voices for them are all well-done; Jones, Farmer, Harnell and Ward make the most of their parts as, respectively, Kibosh, the leader of the Ghost World, and the Ghostly Trio. But Pauly Shore is kind of a shock; he's actually a lot less annoying here as the voice of the ghost Snivel. Who would have thought THAT??!They even manage to make a semi-reference to "Mission: Impossible" half-way through. Didn't see that one coming, gotta hand it to them.All in all, a well-made effort that again makes "Casper" attainable for a whole new generation. Eight stars for "Casper: A Spirited Beginning", plus a half-star more for managing to make Pauly Shore tolerable.

This wasn't very good at all. It had corny acting and dorky dialogue. The special effects and the ghosts were the best part. 3 out of 10.