Bridge to Yet Another Fantasy Land of Standardness
I just saw the trailer to The Bridge to Terabithia...and I'm dissapointed, to say the least.
The magic in the original book was in the possibility of the story. There was no true fantasy in the sense of moving trees and talking animals. All the magic in the books was generated by Leslie, and then Jess. The book was almost child-like in it's story, while the emotions were almost painfullly real.
The movie, on the other hand, looks like standard fantasy fare. Now, if Csupo plays his cards right, and manages to convey all of the fantastical imagrey in the trailer as being entirely in their heads, it could work. But if he doesn't, then much of the real magic in Bridge will be lost.
The worst part is, I feel this could make a fantastic low-budget film. There is nothing in the story that could not be produced by some indie filmaker, and he or she would probably do a better job with the raw emotional aspect of the story, which is really the best part. The only problem with that is the licensing cost must be a fortune, which would discourage anyone not prepared to pour thousands of unnecessary dollars into the project.
And just as a more personal gripe, which wouldn't really push the story one way or another: the setting. Based on the pictures they seem to have "modernized" it. Not that there was much in the book that was very different from today, but when you read it, you did NOT get the feeling of the 21st century, and I feel like watching Leslie run around in more modern day, carefully-out-of-style-yet-still-cool-looking clothing just irritates me.
The magic in the original book was in the possibility of the story. There was no true fantasy in the sense of moving trees and talking animals. All the magic in the books was generated by Leslie, and then Jess. The book was almost child-like in it's story, while the emotions were almost painfullly real.
The movie, on the other hand, looks like standard fantasy fare. Now, if Csupo plays his cards right, and manages to convey all of the fantastical imagrey in the trailer as being entirely in their heads, it could work. But if he doesn't, then much of the real magic in Bridge will be lost.
The worst part is, I feel this could make a fantastic low-budget film. There is nothing in the story that could not be produced by some indie filmaker, and he or she would probably do a better job with the raw emotional aspect of the story, which is really the best part. The only problem with that is the licensing cost must be a fortune, which would discourage anyone not prepared to pour thousands of unnecessary dollars into the project.
And just as a more personal gripe, which wouldn't really push the story one way or another: the setting. Based on the pictures they seem to have "modernized" it. Not that there was much in the book that was very different from today, but when you read it, you did NOT get the feeling of the 21st century, and I feel like watching Leslie run around in more modern day, carefully-out-of-style-yet-still-cool-looking clothing just irritates me.