Great acting, lousy story

Rating: 6/10 (5 June 2004)

I so wanted to love this movie! But it's not nearly as good as I'd hoped it would be. Parts of the movie have improved over the other two films, but it also lost something they had. The acting was awesome--the kids have so much improved, and Alan Rickman and Gary Oldman were superb, as usual. And the visuals, the camera work, and the scenery were fantastic. But the film lacked a great story. There was so much left out of what happened in the book, and it went way too fast! I don't see how the longest book can turn into the shortest movie. I would have gladly sat through an extra half-hour to further develop the details of the story and characters. As I read in a magazine before I saw the film, Columbus is storyteller, and Cuaron is an artist. It's so true. Give me a great story any day!