Already, I was seeing impressive sets, costumes and high-quality CGI.
But as the story went on, I was beginning to see that that's all this film has to offer.
The action set-pieces were either alright or very pedestrian. The original story was just a short one, and all the stretched parts of the plot are noticeable and they never fill it with anyaexciting additional content.
However, I did notice one nice little homage to Fantasia during a ballet sequence, which made me smile. That was probably the highlight of the film.
Then the finale was just something you've seen in every other average family fantasy. It was a bit of a lazy attempt to be honest.
There was nothing wrong with the performances, but none of them were that exceptional.
It was great seeing Mackenzie Foy have a leading role after her amazing showing in Interstellar a few years ago. Foy did a decent job and felt like a strong-willed female lead.
After that, everyone was ordinary or not that good. Keira Knightley was more like a pantomime dame with the over-the-top performance. Didn't work for me.
It was nice seeing British youngster Jayden Fowora-Knight be given an opportunity. The kids may find him charming in this. But I think he's still needs some more experience to be labelled as the next big thing. As for the big names involved, it came across as if they were just in it for a pay cheque. So apologies to Dame Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman.
Omid Djalili and Jack Whitehall were there for comedic relief. In the end, they just came off as unnecessary and annoying.
It's strengths are most definitely from the production and wardrobe departments. The sets and costumes are incredible to look at and have to be involved in the major awards. It would honestly be a crime against film to overlook this.
Sadly, that's as far as I can go as everything else wasn't up to scratch. The story was incredibly sub-standard, predictable and just wasn't that engaging by the end of it. With the performances and writing not being to elevate the overall product, the film just ended up being about dress-up and lavish sets.
Also, I was expecting a grand score along with the famous pieces that we know from this story. In the end, it was small portions of the latter. It never made me want to re-listen to its soundtrack.
In the end, I just wasn't really that bothered by this. There's a reason why the source material is a short story and the 99 minutes duration did lag at times. You can only go so far with amazing sets and costumes and very good visual effects. Without memorable performances, an engaging story and good writing, you get something that's instantly forgettable. There's now a growing number of Disney live-action fantasies that I and many others have similar feelings. You have Alice Through The Looking Glass, Oz The Great And Powerful and dare I say the latest Beauty And The Beast. All of these just feel the same, but with different people on screen.
It may be a passable hour and a half whilst watching it. But afterwards, I think even the kids will forget it as soon as you've returned back home.
I'd stick to the ballet for the best version of this story.
Speaking of ballet, there's a decent dance sequence during the first portion of the end credits to look out for.
Rating: 6/10
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