the audience applauded

Pretty Good

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I only first saw this movie a few months ago, and I've got to say it really is a mixed bag. I've not yet finished the book in which this movie is based on so I'll judge this movie on it's own. First I must talk about the animation. The animation starts off pretty good, not Disney quality but it's passable. However it's one of those animated movie, you know the one where the quality seems to get worse as the movie goes on. Those kind of movies really bother me. I know animated films are painstakingly hard to make but I just feel this approach is lazy. But a good story is a good way to cover some flaws, and how is that? The story is actually good, it's well paced, it ties up the loose end and it managed to do so with an 80 minute running time. Not to mention this is the story that really helped influence Tolkien and C.S. Lewis to right The Hobbit and Narnia. So props to that. With that said a good story can't be saved unless it has good characters to carry it through and this is were it gets mixed. First things first, the Goblins. Everyone knows goblins are the most devious creatures of all fantasy, how are they portrayed in the movie? How do I put this nicely.... THEIR ANNOYING!!!!!!!! Seriously goblins are versatile, open to many possibilities but this movie decided to go to lowest denominator. The supporting characters are not very good either, the guards, the nanny etc. are very annoying. Fortunately to the movie's credit the two leads Princess Irene and Curdie are actually likable. They share a cute chemistry and you do want to route for them. In conclusion The Princess and Goblin is lukewarm, A good well paced story with two likable leads, but annoying supporting characters and inconsistent animation. So in the end I'm glad I saw it, but I won't be rushing to see it anytime soon.

Okay, this movie isn't Disney. The character development is flawed to say the least but this is a good movie overall, considering what they had to work with. The only thing I really disliked about this movie was some of the writing. Irene would sometimes be shown to be pretty tough... then she'd turn into a complete idiot. Same with Curdie, but even more because he was supposed to be tough. And then he seems to forget to be consistent. This is evident when he's captured in the middle of the movie by the goblins and tries to sing to save himself. But then he seems to forget to keep singing, thus helping them capture him.And the music. The song they got was absolutely wonderful. It captures the story really well. Unfortunately, not only is it the only song in the movie, but it's repeated over and over again.That's the bad, but the good is still there. It is entertaining and sweet. I wouldn't recommend it for the older crowd but for kids, it's a pretty good movie and not one they'll be embarrassed about liking when they get older. The plot is good and the voice acting is great.

Maybe I'm just used to sound effects and music making scenes seem more dramatic, but this cartoon felt unfinished. There is very little music in any scenes to help set the mood. The sound effects are also missing a lot, like one scene a boy stomps the ground and it makes no sound. This is not a musical (hence there being no music), but one song appears about 5 times, like one of the writers were smart enough to think up one song and wanted to brag by playing it over and over again. The animation is also lacking quite a bit. Some cool tricks, like putting layers between the characters and foreground are used, but the actual animation is pretty bad. It almost looks like a good looking anime cartoon, or a bad looking Disney knock-off. These are the little things, that made this movie a step down in it's rating.Princess Irene escapes one day from her nanny, gets lost in the forest, and meets many of the horrible pets of the goblins who live in the area. A young miner boy, Curdie, finds her and scares off the animals by singing the only song in the movie. When Irene goes back to the castle, she meets her dead grandmother who tells her some odd secrets about the castle and the goblins. Curdie follows the goblins to their area of work, and chaos ensues.The best scenes in the movie are the ones featuring the goblins, and there are way too few of those. This movie is around 80 minutes, and the goblins have maybe, 10 to 15 minutes of screen time, but it seems longer because they're such interesting characters. Scenes with Irene in the castle can get quite boring, and what's strange is Irene's nanny Looti is actually a much more interesting character than Irene. Scenes with Curdie can be annoying, because he tends to think out loud, which just adds up to bad writing and inexpressive animation.Overall, this a fun movie, and it's somewhat cute and funny, but it's nothing special.My rating: ** 1/2 out of ****. 80 mins. G.

I was struck by the amateurish animation, like the rough work in the CTW version of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" but with better backgrounds and with even worse sound. I can forgive weak visuals when the story is strong, but this feature falls short there too. It's a mishmash of poorly developed characters and poorly motivated action set pieces. The Great Great Grandmother character is tossed into the mix for some magical glamor, but only adds to the humor and confusion with her "I'll always be there for you, except when I'm not" speech. The violence is also a little rougher than I'm used to, including a bloodstain from a character's wound, a goblin dog shown in shadow being kicked in the head until senseless, and a strange moment where a nursemaid is licked, repeatedly and lasciviously, on her clothed belly and chest by an attacking goblin. The voice acting is good (not surprising considering the cast) but it's not enough to save this movie.