A preteen named Jess (Josh Hutcherson) meets a girl named Leslie (Annasophia Robb) and the two pretend they're king and queen of a secret kingdom in the woods called Terabithia. Leslie is not only a good friend to Jess but she also changes his life. Yes, this is not a magical adventure film as the film was marketed, so yeah that's major false advertising.
Our main characters are lovable, brilliant and well casted. Jess is identifiable, very talented and of course relatable to the average young kid. We can relate to the things he goes through such as being bullied, having a tough time at home, secretly liking a teacher and dealing with something very tragic. Josh Hutcherson's performance superb great at playing this character, as a matter of fact this is one of those rare performances where I forget the actor is playing a character when the actor himself naturally looks and acts like the character. Oh and his sad moments towards the ending is powerfully heartbreaking. Leslie, my god, I deeply love this character. She's very free spirited, she's creative and not only serves as Jess's best friend but also serves as an open minded soul that teaches Jess things that school can't teach him. Annasophia Robb is just as amazing as Josh's performance and yes she too is naturally playing the character.The friendship between them is fantastic and seeing them pretend to rule a fictional land is cute and one of those rare times when pretending looks epic and legit on film. However, while the relationship also has cute and whimsical moments, sometimes the film over does it to the point where it feels corny or not needed. With that said, I still feel the connection between the two.
The supporting characters are just as lovable, memorable and naturally performed as our main characters. Jess's Dad (Robert Patrick) is a character who spends more love and care with Jess's little sister May Belle(Bailee Madison) then he does with his Jess, in facts he acts more tough,serious and shall we say bitter towards him. Then we have the bullies Janice (Lauren Clinton),Scott (Cameron Wakefield) and Gary (Elliot Lawless) who like to pick on Jess and Leslie that are not badly acted but a little bit over the top. Then there's the teacher Mrs.Myers (Jen Wolfe) who's very strict to her students. As mean sounding as some of these characters are, some of them are not what they seem and have good development along with a sad backstory and the others well hey they were jerks to begin with. The two best supporting characters in the film is the music teacher Ms.Edmunds (Zooey Deschanel) and Jess's sister May Belle are really fun characters and bring as much joy as our main leads do.
The fantasy world of Terabithia is nicely done. Yeah, it's all done by CGI which I consider very lazy in modern day film making, however in this film it's done fine. I love the set design for this fictional world and some of the designs for the creatures living in it. It's very magical and really well put together. However, I will admit some of the CGI does look kind of lame at points and to be honest some of the creatures, especially the Terabithians are barley shown and towards the ending we don't get a good look at any of them, the only one I remember is the bird lady. I do wonder at times if the world is real or pretend, mostly because a Troll saves Jess from falling out of tree, you're imagination isn't going to save you from that. To be fair, I think that's what the film's trying to do, trying to make you think the world their pretending is real and sometimes I'm convinced that it is. The cinematography in this film is nice and has some really good edits and montages. The music score sets the tone and atmosphere for the movie wonderfully and it soundtrack of songs sung by artists fits in at the right time and moment. However, can we please hear the films actual song "You've Got To Keep Your Mind Wide Open" sung by Annasophia Robb play in the credits and have the stupid Miley Cyrus song play in the scene when you can barley hear or pay attention to the films actual song. The story is well written and has plenty of good morals in it and yes it does indeed have one of the saddest moments in Live action Disney history.
Overall, I know the film isn't epic but for a kids film it's very good. Oh and comparing it to the original, it's 100 times better. If Disney marketed it better, toned down the over the top whimsical factor, and been more creative, maybe it would get a better reception.
RATING 4/5
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