[100M] The bridge to Terabithia
This review contains big spoilers for the entire movie, don't read it if you plan to see it !!
31 - Bridge to Terabithia (Le secret de Terabithia)
May 8th, theaters (dubbed version)
Oh the horror of a screening on a holiday, in the middle of the day, in a dubbed french version. I like my screenings to be as empty as possible, in an subtitled version and above all things, without kids in the theater -_- Well, it could have been worse, to be fair, but lots of talking kids, and this one kicking my seat for the whole movie (and her mother not reacting after I told her kid several time to stop this).
Anyway, I went there expecting something Narnia-like (which I thought was boring, exepted the lion's voice), but with a rather good review from le_canard. I had a very nice surprise, because I liked it. It had its errors, but was such a nice suprise I tend to let them go.
What I liked first was that it's not a fantasy world, but a nice turn on it, since the fantasy world really is in the kids heads. My friend too was really expecting something like Narnia, and waited for Terabithia for far longer than I did. I liked the idea so much I "got it" for earlier than she did. I liked how everything in their world is a projection of the real one, the squirrel, the castle, and the father's keys noise (that was awesome, especially at the very end of it). I also liked the general impression of it, it reminded me of my childhood (something enhanced by the fact I saw it with my childhood friend). There was some distance between nowadays, when it takes place, and a general impression, more 80's like.
What I liked less was the depiction of the school. Ok, school at that age was hard, ok, there was bullies for me too, or at least insufferable queens of the school. But there, it seemed very cliché, in a way you see in EVERY movie but doesn't really fit with my memories (subjective, I know). Teens years are hard for everyone, but there, it was too cliché to really convey that idea, and that's a pity.
And the death of the girl. OMG. I cried a lot about this. I SO not expected it. Nobody important ever dies in kids movies !! That was great. So hard, but made the movie so much better. And she's not even in Terabithia at the end. It redeems the cliché school thing to me... And yes, I know how squee-ing over a teen's death sounds, but the boy's reaction to it was to painful, and felt so real.
I liked how the father was depicted too. He's coming hard on the boy for the whole movie, but he never really sounds like an abusive father. He's not nice to him, but it's well enough made that you understand how deep in their money troubles he is, and how he'd like his son to be an adult to help him, but the son wants to be a kid. It was not a black-or-white situation, and I enjoyed it, because it could have been far worse, with a minor character. I cried the most when he catches his son in the forest, near the end (I empathize a lot with fathers in movies, apparently)
I have to say it everytime I see her : Zooey Deschanel is soooo cute. I want to hug her everytime.
* * * (on a scale from 1 to 5)
A very nice surprise, since I was not expecting much of it.
31 - Bridge to Terabithia (Le secret de Terabithia)
May 8th, theaters (dubbed version)
Oh the horror of a screening on a holiday, in the middle of the day, in a dubbed french version. I like my screenings to be as empty as possible, in an subtitled version and above all things, without kids in the theater -_- Well, it could have been worse, to be fair, but lots of talking kids, and this one kicking my seat for the whole movie (and her mother not reacting after I told her kid several time to stop this).
Anyway, I went there expecting something Narnia-like (which I thought was boring, exepted the lion's voice), but with a rather good review from le_canard. I had a very nice surprise, because I liked it. It had its errors, but was such a nice suprise I tend to let them go.
What I liked first was that it's not a fantasy world, but a nice turn on it, since the fantasy world really is in the kids heads. My friend too was really expecting something like Narnia, and waited for Terabithia for far longer than I did. I liked the idea so much I "got it" for earlier than she did. I liked how everything in their world is a projection of the real one, the squirrel, the castle, and the father's keys noise (that was awesome, especially at the very end of it). I also liked the general impression of it, it reminded me of my childhood (something enhanced by the fact I saw it with my childhood friend). There was some distance between nowadays, when it takes place, and a general impression, more 80's like.
What I liked less was the depiction of the school. Ok, school at that age was hard, ok, there was bullies for me too, or at least insufferable queens of the school. But there, it seemed very cliché, in a way you see in EVERY movie but doesn't really fit with my memories (subjective, I know). Teens years are hard for everyone, but there, it was too cliché to really convey that idea, and that's a pity.
And the death of the girl. OMG. I cried a lot about this. I SO not expected it. Nobody important ever dies in kids movies !! That was great. So hard, but made the movie so much better. And she's not even in Terabithia at the end. It redeems the cliché school thing to me... And yes, I know how squee-ing over a teen's death sounds, but the boy's reaction to it was to painful, and felt so real.
I liked how the father was depicted too. He's coming hard on the boy for the whole movie, but he never really sounds like an abusive father. He's not nice to him, but it's well enough made that you understand how deep in their money troubles he is, and how he'd like his son to be an adult to help him, but the son wants to be a kid. It was not a black-or-white situation, and I enjoyed it, because it could have been far worse, with a minor character. I cried the most when he catches his son in the forest, near the end (I empathize a lot with fathers in movies, apparently)
I have to say it everytime I see her : Zooey Deschanel is soooo cute. I want to hug her everytime.
* * * (on a scale from 1 to 5)
A very nice surprise, since I was not expecting much of it.