Familiar plot lines but a pretty good movie for the kids.

Rating: 7/10 (25 March 2006)

Recently we've started watching movies with the kids (ages 5 and 3), and that means we've been watching movies that my wife and I otherwise missed over the last 15 years; Willie Wonka, Chitty Bang Bang to name two.
Several weeks ago we watched a movie I thought I'd soon forget about titled the Worst Witch. My daughter loved it, but my daughter also likes eating gooey food with her hands. Then the other day we watched Harry Potter and the memories of the other movie came back to haunt me; was this movie a remake? Now I move on to review Harry Potter, but you could also consider this a review of worst witch, the two movies are that close in plot and character.
Mildred, I mean Harry, is a kid who does not quite fit but is at a school to learn magic. He had his antagonist, Malfroy (blonde ... all he's missing is the German accent) his friends (Ronald and Hermione) and a cast that employs more British actors than Gosford Park.
Mildred, I mean Harry, is better than he thinks he is, and has skills he doesn't know he has and must only learn to have faith in himself. There is a bad guy and my guess is the rest of this series will involve harry fighting this bad guy ("he who must not be named"). Oh, the bad guy killed his parents so I'm pretty sure Harry will one day end up standing over the bad guys dead body. But not in this movie, there are several more out there to watch!
The cast is brilliant; even the young actors do well. The effects are great as well (they spared no expense). But the story is predictable, if you find yourself surprised and amazed at the twists and turns you need to watch a few more movies.
Anyways, if you have kids who are out for a simple mindless movie, pick this one up. If you have a group of people over the age of 20 watching they'll all feel like their watching a very expensive remake of other things past.
7/10 for the kids. 4/10 for the rest of us.