Easily one of the most male centered movies I've ever seen

Rating: 9/10 (1 March 2008)

And I loved it. The creators of this little gem have far more potent imaginations than I and I envy them that. What a rousing movie! I picked it up in DVD to fill up an evening while my wife was away and what a pleasure it was to get engrossed in this brilliantly told tale of courage and adventure. It took me about 30 seconds to get used to the animation. It will take you longer to get used to the idea that this movie actually does a better job evoking a bygone time than the literature on which it's based. That's amazing to me. Another surprise was that Ms Jolie's much ballyhooed nude scenes were more disappointing than I had expected. I found myself more entranced with Robin Wright Penn's Wealthow who is undeservedly undervalued as an indispensable part of this film's magical weave. Ray Winstone rings more true in the lead than anyone had any right to hope for, in my opinion. And then there's Anthony Hopkins and John Malkovich, both adding bits of irrepressible humanity to the mix. This is in sum a thoroughly enjoyable film and I don't hesitate to recommend it, but especially to guys who will have a richer appreciation of it all than I would expect the usual woman will.