Genres

Visitors Review

Mihnea the Pitbull 2013-04-20 19:42:40

Qualities and flaws

The qualities: - Superb graphics, expressive, beautiful and stylish; - Solid characters, both intrinsically and visually; - A compelling atmosphere, and mood in general.The flaws: - A chaotic script, confusing and unprofessional. They were tooambitious to keep as much as possible of the novel's sub-plots andsecondary characters, but didn't know how to organize them according tothe screen-writing rules.- A linear direction: everything flows on too uniformly, the importantscenes are not accented and developed enough. As such, it graduallybecomes boring, and during the culminating moments it's positivelyanticlimactic.- The disadvantageous comparison with "Oblio". That one had spark! Thisone is also smart, but less inspired.

2013-04-20 07:58:27

A GOOD STORY, BUT IT DOESN'T KNOW WHAT IT WANTS TO BE!

I was a little disappointed in this film only because it seemed a little too adult for this type of film. The animation is excellent even if a bit dull and the voice acting is very good although not that inspired. I found the story to have a great message, but not enough excitement and sharp wit....something I've grown accustomed to as of late with so many top notch animated films. It's not a bad film, but there are certainly much better animated films and also many worse! It's a very good story, but I doubt it will keep the little ones attention.

2013-04-01 19:30:07

Gift arrived in time

This review is from: The Tale of Despereaux (DVD) I got this video as a Christmas gift for my grandchildren, who love the movie. It came in time for Christmas, and arrived undamaged, Thanks.

Christine A 2013-04-01 11:08:15

The mouse that roared

I took my eleven year old daughter to the movie who has read the book numerous times.,she liked the movie very much as did I it wasn't just the movie it was the explanations that went with it along the way about life and love and grief and how to overcome such things.It was super and the little mouse is soooooo cute !!

tendobear 2013-03-29 18:35:20

Tale of Desperate

I haven't read the book yet, so I can't make a comparison between movieand book. The movie itself was OK at best; good points first - it wasbeautifully animated, the characters lavishly designed, great visuals,the voice talent was pretty much as good as it can get. Now, the badpoints - it made no sense, the story/plot was all over the place, itwasn't engaging and it was all a bit mediocre. It brought nothing newto the table. There were too many characters to keep track of and yetnone of the characters are really that likable. I felt that there wasno charm at all, as if the film-makers were trying too hard, and indoing so they've lost any magic that the story and characters may havehad. All in all, it just felt really contrived and desperate. Oh, andwhy the heck do they have to make the mice and rats look so much likereal mice and rats??? At least the rats in Ratatouille looked cartoon-yand were cute, the mice and rats in T.O.D were just plain creepylooking.

2013-03-29 06:35:05

BAD MOVIE: READ THE BOOK INSTEAD!!!

This movie is just plain awful. It is almost nothing like the book (they friggin' added parts in!), they make the characters look soooooo ugly, and it's weird!(Though I must admit, I did like the voice talents of Emma Watson.) Even though I'm 11, I still had a hard time understanding it. I almost wish I hadn't watched it! What a waste of time I could have spent reading a good biograpy of Annie Sullivan! Even if you are REALLY BORED, and have nothing to do; don't waste your time watching this movie! The book is a lot better, so read it instead. WARNING: this movie is sick, and even though it looks like a good movie for young children, it isn't! It even gave me really weird dreams for about a week, so don't let any children under 8 watch this movie (unless you want to be staying up with them all night telling them it was just a bad dream).

Marie 2013-03-29 06:03:42

good movie

I took my almost 7 year old and he loved it and so did I. It was about forgivness,doing the right thing,and not being afraid and bravery. There is nothing scary about this movie. Good story about life happens and yes your sad but you move on.

2013-03-29 02:24:42

Love the animation.....

Computer animation is getting more real all the time, and it shows in thismovie. As some reviewers are complaining about their 4-6 year old kidsbeing scared...its not really a movie for little little kids..its a moviefor older kids and above. I never read the book, but i found the movie pretty good, maybe not as good as other animated movies going around, but still stands by itself. The only problem was is that once you get to know all the charactersand the story unfolds...and there is a kind of ending comming...thenPoof the movie is finish....really really fast. So bottom line dueto the quick ending...i did not feel fully satisfied, seems there couldhave been a extra 5 minutes addes to show you what happen to yourfavorite character.I do recommend this movie.. a keeper.

2013-03-27 02:27:58

Good book, HORRIBLE movie!!!!!!

I just finished the book a couple of days ago and really enjoyed it. So, when I found out there was a movie, I was excited. The first thing I said when I saw the movie was "ok that's not how the book starts." But I thought I'd give it the benefit of the doubt, maybe it would get better as it went along. Unfortunately,it didn't...IT GOT WORSE!!! If the movie is your first introduction to "The Tale of Despereaux" please do yourself a favour and turn the movie off, and go read the book. You will be so much happier that you did!!

2013-03-26 15:21:43

tale of despereaux

beautiful artwork and charming characters; i didn't like the very prominent message: break the rules (laws?), especially since very young children will be the main viewers; all adults (parents, teachers, officials, chefs, etc) are portrayed as fuddy-duddy and, of course, end up being wrong; the hero is seen performing dangerous stunts that defy the "rules" set up to protect small children. Adults should supervise.

2013-03-26 11:32:04

Tale of Despereaux

This review is from: The Tale of Despereaux [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) The product was on time, in great shape, for a great price, and my wife loves it. It's a great addition to her movie collection; a real classic.

2013-03-26 04:56:15

Dreary, with a lack of inspiration

I have a 5 year old and an eight year old. Neither liked this movie. My wife and I watched the entire thing - good start, to dark middle, to stupid finish. The previews showed the best part - the mouse like no other. The rat, voiced by a dull Hoffman (time to really retire), was never developed. The narration was dark, dreary, and barely moved the movie from one (well animated) bad scene to another dark scene. The end was stupid - the chef, who was told to not make soup, SUDDENLY decides to make soup. This makes the clouds finally drop their rain. The rain makes all the loose ends come together somehow. This dog is not for kids, or anyone looking for inspiration. This needed to be redone or left on the editing floor (which was only finished because of the money spent on advertising and high-priced voices). Go watch The Incredibles instead.

2013-03-25 02:55:54

Good, but should be PG NOT G

This review is from: The Tale of Despereaux (Amazon Instant Video) As an adult, I would give this 3 stars. It is OK, but no where near on par with toy story, ratatouille, cars, etc. The movie also seemed to me that it should be PG and not G. It is rather dark and has lots of violence. Too much for young children. I watched it with my 2.5 year old, and needed to turn it off so that he would not get scared. I watched the rest later.

2013-03-24 22:54:43

Used-The Tale of Despereaux

This review is from: The Tale of Despereaux (DVD) I bought this DVD used & it's in great condition. It plays flawlessly. Great buy!!!

2013-03-19 13:45:07

READ THE BOOK

I found this movie to be very disapointing. The Tale of Desparaux (the original book) has the potential to make a fantastic movie.....if you keep all of the elements that make it touching, sad, and beautiful. This movie took out many interesting details that raise all types of moral and social questions, and give the story a whole new level of meaning, from the background of Miggery Sow's life (her father selling her, how she had her ears boxed, etc) to the dungeon keeper and he and Desparaux's strange relationship. And then they added the whole thing with that ridiculous vegetable man! What was that?!I understand that it was meant to be a kid's movie, and as a kid's movie it did very well, but I feel that whoever decided to take this beautiful book (by renowned author Kate Dicamillo)and turn it into a movie should NOT have made it into a kid's movie. The book is totally innapropriate for a very young audience (not in the sexual term, but in the sence of emotional maturity)and it would have done better as a movie for older veiwers....or, better yet, if it was not made into a movie at all. I encourage anyone who wants to know the TRUE Tale of Desparaux to read the book, not watch this movie.

DICK STEEL 2013-03-19 04:37:12

A Nutshell Review: The Tale of Despereaux

Never did I think that The Tale of Despereaux would have all it takesto be a fairy tale in the spirit of Stardust, and I had actually foundmyself enjoying this tale from once upon a time, which providedentertainment to children, and not leave the adults in the lurch thanksto its rather mature story that spread out like a hydra thanks to themyriad of colourful characters inhabiting its kingdom of Dor, wherecitizens enjoy the yearly ritual of witnessing and subsequently tastingthe soup of the year created.There's a difference between a mouse and a rat, as far as likabilityand the cuteness factor goes. And central to the story are aworld-weary rat Roscuro (voiced by Dustin Hoffman) who lives aboard aship and finds himself grounded in part due to his love for good food,and that of an innocent mouse with a big heart, the titular characterDespereaux (Matthew Broderick), who is smaller in size than the averagemouse, but born with big Dumbo like ears which he uses to great effect.Roscuro's presence in the kingdom happens to be the root cause of theking having to ban soup and outlaw the presence of rats in his kingdom,and disappears for a while in the middle section of the story, leavingroom for Despereaux to step up to the central role. We learn that Despereaux is no ordinary mouse, not only in physicalterms, but in character, because he knows no fear and very much unlikethe other mice who must learn to be meek and cower as an innateresponse to danger. For his steadfastness in holding true to hisprinciples, he finds himself banished as punishment for speaking toPrincess Pea (Emma Watson), and so paves way for the little one toexhibit the values of honour, chivalry, loyalty and courage, stuff inwhich he found appealing from a story book that he read, with which heimagines himself to be a mouseketeer/knight.What made this movie work, are the many threads and characters inseemingly disparate narrative arcs, where you can't help but toanticipate how they would all come together. Each character created wasquite balanced in having grey area to tread, so that the theme offorgiveness could ring through. And having a star studded cast to voicethem worked wonders too, such as Tracey Ullman, Kevin Kline, William H.Macy, Ciaran Hinds (who is also in this week's Race to Witch Mountain),Frank Langella, Christopher Llyod and Sigourney Weaver as the narrator,which quite interestingly, doesn't always narrate verbatim to what'sshown on screen. Each character has their own motivation put outclearly, and while some, like the key characters, have their work cutout for them, you can rely on the support cast to liven up things alittle and provide some comic relief.I guess the animation studios in the west have already reached aplateau in terms of the technical know-how in putting out aphoto-realistic animated film these days. You can imagine the textureof the animal's fur, as well as the smell of the dark and stankunderground city of Rat Town, or the perfumed sweetness that comes witha princess' room. It goes to show that the benchmark has been raisedpermanently, and it will take many years and larger budgets if localanimated film studios (that have given us cringeworthy titles to date,with poor stories and poor graphics) are thinking of reaching the sameheights. Not wanting to put them down, but they have to understand thata strong story is key (and doesn't mean you tweak it to suit theflavour of what you think will sell) in order for the animation to doits part (e.g. Barnyard – excellent CG art, but poor story = box officedisaster).The Tale of Despereaux again is family friendly fare save for one scenewhich I thought might be pushing the envelope a bit (for a children'sG-rated film that is). Other than that, for those looking for a moreadult fairy tale, give this mouse a chance, and in all honesty, thislittle guy got more spunk than Ratatouille. Recommended!

2013-03-19 13:40:27

WONDERFUL FOR ALL AGES!!!!

The Tale of Despereaux is a wonderful movie for all ages.The art work is wonderful.Love,Love,Love it!!!!!!!

dbborroughs 2013-03-19 00:16:33

Wonderful film is more like reading a really good meaty book that you want to curl up with and lose yourself in

Okay we applauded at the end and I got teary at times.I have no idea when I last saw an animated film this complex made inthe US. I mean that in a good way. I also have to wonder when was thelast time I saw a real meaty fairy tale on screen, Strings perhaps (ohwhat a great double feature that will be) How the heck do I explainthis simply? I have no idea. Perhaps by saying this is the story of amouse named Despereaux who isn't afraid of anything, who reads thestories of a knights and chivalry and takes an oath to be a gentlemen,who helps a princess trapped in a castle and a kingdom caught in gloom.One of the most beautiful animated films, possibly the best lookingcomputer animated film yet with a lush scheme that makes it look likevarious paintings by people like Vermeer. At other times this is theequivalent of book illustrations come to life. As good as the trailerslook the film itself is even better. If you love art (both fine andanimated, see this film since the film references numerous works.For the most part this is a beautifully adapted film that is likecurling up with a good book.Where recent films like City of Ember orTwilight or even the Harry Potter films have links to their sourcenovels that make them less then stand alone movies, this film takes thebook and puts it on the screen and doesn't dumb it down or make it soyou need to have read the book. You have real fleshed out characters ofsurprising complexity (What is a character like Dustin Hoffman's doingin a film that is "for children?" I don't care frankly because itswonderful). These are not one note sketches but living breathingpeople. It doesn't rush things, this is a film that takes its timetelling the story and requires you actually pay attention. Despereauxdoesn't show up for at least fifteen minutes as we get a long run up ofwhy things are the way they are.Its wonderful since it beautifully laysout the world we are walking through. Its a real fairy tale movie thatis much more complex than anything that Disney has been churning out,or even Pixar with the film juggling several story lines-Despereaux,Roscuro(Hoffman), the maid, the Princess- all at the sametime all seeming to get an equal amount of weight to their telling. Itwonderful.Unfortunately the film has one flaw that keeps it from beingperfect.(This is a POTENTIAL SPOILER so you may not want to read thisbit) There is a moment or two after the meeting of Roscuro and thePrincess when the climax of the film is set in motion when it felt likesomething was left out. How does all of the villainy transpire? Its notfully clear and on some level I couldn't completely go with it to thenext level. Its like coming to a canyon and you have to bridge it, butyou suddenly find yourself on the other side without knowing how yougot there. its the sort of thing that made the almost 10 out of tenfilm closer to 8 out of 10. (END OF SPOILER) Yes I really liked it. YesI think you should see it, especially if you like really good fairytales or stories that are not simple or simplistic. Its a wonderfulmovie.

s_garoutte 2013-03-13 09:32:43

It was actually very good, although very different from the book

My son and I read this book last year and it along with Kate's othergreat work "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" we enjoyed verymuch. It is rare to find witty educated authors who are able toidentify with the 5-10yr old crowd. The movie however was a far cryfrom the book, nevertheless the family and I enjoyed it very much. I ampersonally tired of the movies that focus on the parents more and thekids less (Bolt, The Incredibles etc..). The movie is a great movieparticularly if you want to have a great talk with the kids on the wayhome about honor and bravery. Was it the book? No and I prefer the book, but the movie is goodentertainment in it's own right. Give it a chance, it will touch you.

jaschroeder-2 2013-03-13 00:47:17

Not for kids - dark content

I went to this movie with my two little kids (2 and 4) thinking itwould be a good kids movie. The advertisements showed it being a funfilled movie. However, the movie was very dark and scary with the rats,and especially at the end where they are going to eat theprincess.....NOT good for kids. The trailers all made you think theremight be some humor in the movie, however, there is none. I would notrecommend this movie for kids. I don't know why these types of kidsmovies cannot include some humor. How tough can it be to add humor thata kids would like to an animated movie? I can't remember the last timeI've seen a good kids movie that made my kids enjoy it and it wasfunny. Some of the old cartoons beat out these new expensive movies.