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Certificate: 
Director: Chris Weitz
Release Date: 5 December 2007
Tagline: “It is the Alethiometer. It tells the truth. As for how to read it, you’ll have to learn by yourself.”
Main Cast:
Nicole Kidman … Mrs Coulter
Daniel Craig … Lord Asriel
Dakota Blue Richards … Lyla
I generally like fantasy films and I was hoping for a slick film with adventure and a sturdy plot. Unfortunately, The Golden Compass is tedious, clichéd, confusing and poorly acted. I nearly switched it off on more than one occasion, but decided to stick with it.
There seems to be a worrying trend growing where some of our finest actors are becoming no more than bit parts in this genre (particularly Christopher Lee and Ian McKellen). As for the children, the obligatory ’street urchins’ were too much for me to bear, and the children’s accents seemed to switch from slightly plummy to (embarrassingly bad) cockney with alarming regularity. Nicole Kidman’s talent is wasted in such rubbish and I wondered what she was doing in it. Her role was so undemanding that it could have been played by anyone with a modicum of talent.
Because it is flawed in almost every area it is very hard for me to come up with any redeeming features. However, I do like talking animals and it had a few of them in it 
Having said that though, they were neither engaging nor amusing and Iorek was too much like Aslan (of the Narnia Chronicles) for me.
Perhaps children in the age range of seven to twelve might enjoy this (mostly girls), but there are other films of this genre that are far superior (Stardust being one of them). I was glad when it ended and will not be watching any future sequels. Very disappointing.
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Directors: Chris Miller & Raman Hui (co-director)
Release Date: 29 June 2007
Tagline: Who’s ready for Thirds?
Main Cast: (voice)
Mike Myers … Shrek
Eddie Murphy … Donkey
Cameron Diaz … Princess Fiona
Antonio Banders … Puss in Boots
After reading reviews of this I wasn’t expecting too much. However, I thought it was much better than reported. I would have liked to have seen more of Donkey though, as I think he’s by far the best character. I do like the fact that Puss has now joined as a second sidekick to Shrek. As usual, there are plenty of little jokes in the background to amuse us adults.
Shrek the Third is not in the same league as the original, but I’d put it on a par with the second one.
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Director: Andrew Adamson
Release Date: 26 June 2008
Tagline: A new age has begun.
Main Cast:
Ben Barnes … Prince Caspian
Georgie Henley … Lucy Pevensie
Skandar Keynes … Edmund Pevensie
William Moseley … Peter Pevensie
Anna Popplewell … Susan Pevensie
Whilst I enjoyed TCoN: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe I was not a huge fan of it. It looked very pretty, but seemed a bit bland to me. I must confess though, that I dislike ‘precious’ English children in films. They always simper a lot, and invariably can’t act. The actors that play the Pevensie children are no exception and I had an equally tough time watching them in this too. I did like Ben Barnes though as he’s not at all like the others. My dislike of English children aside though, I can’t say that I liked this any more than the first. I thought that at 150 minutes it was rather too long and I found myself losing interest. I seemed to ponder on how the Telmarine men (and possibly the women too) liked having beards. Even their masks had beards. Needless to say, Prince Caspian was handsomely clean shaven. I also never cease to be amazed at how quivers in the movies are magical – archers never, ever run out of arrows.
I should imagine that children from the age of about seven would really enjoy this, but the run time would almost certainly be too much for younger children to sit through. However, as I am reviewing this from an adult’s point of view, I shall rate it accordingly. I watch many children’s films, and I generally enjoy them (as you can see by my other reviews), so I don’t think I’m being unfair.
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Directors: Eric Darnell & Tom McGrath
Release Date: 15 July 2005
Tagline: Ton on the run.
Main Cast: (voice)
Ben Stiller … Alex
Chris Rock … Marty
David Schwimmer … Melman
Jada Pinkett Smith … Gloria
Sacha Baron Cohen … Julien
Madagascar follows a group of four friends from New York’s Central Park Zoo. One of them has a mural of a lush, green landscape opposite him, and this inspires him to leave New York for the ‘wild’. It’s not done in a schmaltzy and sentimental way (thankfully), and when he leaves the unexciting but safe zoo, the other characters go off to find him and bring him back. Which they do. However, they find themselves being taken from the zoo and put on a ship bound for Africa. And so the adventure begins.
This is another good animation that will be enjoyed by both children and adults. It’s very charming and engaging with several laugh out loud moments. The actors fit their characters very well; I especially liked Sacha Baron Cohen as Julien.
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Directors: Chris Wedge & Carlos Saldanha (co-director)
Release Date: 22 March 2002
Tagline: The coolest event in 16,000 years.
Main Cast: (voice)
Ray Romano … Manfred
John Leguizamo … Sid
Denis Leary … Diego
Whilst not in the same league as Pixar’s finest, Ice Age is still very enjoyable for all ages. I would imagine that this is something that would pass most adults by, but if you are like me and enjoy great animation with a good script and talented voice artists then you should find this entertaining.
The basic plot is pretty standard stuff; there is a loner who somehow manages to find himself in the company of an annoying sidekick, but by the end of the film they are great friends. The straight man and the funny one – a classic combination. They are eventually joined by a third character which is a nice added element.
Simple yet very funny, Ice Age is one of those little gems that adults will probably miss, but should really give a chance.
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Director: Andrew Stanton
Release Date: 18 July 2008
Tagline: An adventure beyond the ordinar-E.
Main Cast: (voice)
Ben Burtt … WALL·E / M-O
Elissa Knight … EVE
Jeff Garlin … Captain
Sigourney Weaver … Ship’s Computer
Guess what? Pixar have come up with yet another masterpiece! WALL·E is utterly charming and totally brilliant from start to finish. The first part of the film has practically no dialogue, and the animators at Pixar have managed to create such a wonderful character that we need no words to follow the story.
WALL·E is the last of his kind – a clean-up robot on a barren and completely deserted Earth of the future. Whilst doing his job, he collects items that take his fancy, and he furnishes his home with them. In amongst his collection are a tv & VCR on which he plays a video of Hello Dolly! and is entranced by the love songs and the companionship he sees on screen. His loneliness is plain for all to see, and within a matter of minutes you get a real feeling of sympathy for this little robot.
Whilst going about his daily business, he has an encounter with a space ship which deposits a robot who has a rather destructive streak and clearly has a mission, although we don’t find out what the mission is until later on. WALL·E befriends EVE and the adventure begins.
Everything about WALL·E is exceptional. Watch it – and make it soon!
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Director: Dave Filoni
Release Date: 15 August 2008
Tagline: Star Wars like you’ve never seen it before.
Main Cast: (voice)
Matt Lanter … Anakin Skywalker
James Arnold Taylor … Obi-Wan Kenobi / 4-A7 / Medical Droid
Ashley Eckstein … Ahsoka Tano
Christopher Lee … Count Dooku
Ian Abercrombie … Senator Palpatine / Darth Sidious
Tom Kane … Yoda / Narrator / Admiral Yularen
I am so sick of the Star Wars prequels whiners, and even more sick of those who hated them so much that they are seemingly willing to trash all present and future ventures. Why can’t these people get it into their heads that they have grown up (at least physically) and therefore must accept that there are going to be elements that seem pretty childish.
This is aimed at children but there is also plenty for us older fans to like. The battle scenes are pretty exciting, and the lightsaber duels are very good.
I really liked this and can’t understand the terrible reviews it had. One critic panned the animation, but I thought it was superb. The Clone Wars has a look and feel all its own and works well not only as a lead up to the new series, but also as a companion to the original Clone Wars animation shorts. I also can’t understand the same critic’s view that the actors were poor. I thought that James Arnold Taylor, Ian Abercrombie and Tom Kane were very convincing as Obi-Wan, Palpatine and Yoda respectively. Matt Lanter also made a credible Anakin.
I did find the character of Ahsoka quite annoying. I can understand that they needed to give Anakin someone to converse with, but they could have come up with a better character. I hated the nickname “Sky Guy” and I also didn’t like Jabba the Hutt calling his son “Punky Muffin”. That’s just plainly unacceptable and cheapens Jabba (whose voice actor was also very convincing).
Overall, it’s not perfect but if you can get over the “Sky Guy” and “Punky Muffin” atrocities then you’ll have a good time.
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Director: Garth Jennings
Release Date: 4 April 2008
Tagline: Make believe. Not war.
Main Cast:
Bill Milner … Will Proudfoot
Will Poulter … Lee Carter
What a breath of fresh air Son of Rambow is! A truly original and engaging film that everyone should enjoy – especially those of us who grew up in the 80s! The two boys carry the film with ease and are a delight to watch. There are plenty of real laugh out loud moments – not just in the script, but also in the dreadful fashions. Check out the ’sixth form common room’ for an 80s overdose.
The story is fantastic and very believable. I never had access to a camcorder back then, but if I had, then this is exactly the type of thing I’d have got up to 
I’ve heard this film described as a parody, but that is not the case at all. If you think that, then you’re missing the point entirely. In my youth (I was born in 1971) the Rambo films were essential viewing and it is entirely plausible that they would have been emulated by any budding director! It’s an affectionate look back at what we kids did during the long summer months (when we actually had summers!), and what we entertained ourselves with. It’s a coming of age film (it reminded me of Stand By Me, only with more humour) that is so well done it takes you back to the heady days of when videos were new and exciting and when Sylvester Stallone was cool. But most of all it takes you back to the days when your imagination was uninhibited and you just enjoyed being a kid.
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Director: Matthew Vaughn
Release Date: 19 October 2007
Tagline: This summer a star falls. The chase begins.
Main Cast:
Michelle Pfeiffer … Lamia
Claire Danes … Yvaine
Charlie Cox … Tristan
Robert De Niro … Captain Shakespeare
I really liked Stardust. It’s very enjoyable and a near perfect example of a family film. There’s plenty of humour in it (I especially liked Billy), the casting is very good (except for the abysmal Ricky Gervais) and there are lots of familiar faces for us Brits to look out for! It has a dark edge to it which raises it above the treacly sweet film it could have been.
Don’t be put off because it’s a family film. It’s well worth a look even if you don’t normally watch this type of film.
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Director: Nathan Juran
Release Date: 23 December 1958
Tagline: 8th Wonder of the Screen!
Main Cast:
Kerwin Mathews … Sinbad
Kathryn Grant … Princess Parisa
Torin Thatcher … Sokurah the Magician
Richard Eyer … The Genie
Another classic from Ray Harryhausen. There really is nothing to say about his films other than watch them. They’re all such great fun, and I never cease to marvel at his stop motion animation genius.
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