Painful Schlock

Rating: 2/10 (11 January 2002)

With the exception of a few impressive visual scenes, this film is unbearable. I generally like kids, but this film had me rooting for the bathroom ogre and the 3-headed monster dog to eat all children in sight, especially the three principal actors. They're awful - mostly due to painful overacting for which we can blame poor direction. If Hermione doesn't get on your last nerve, nothing will. Yeah, so the film has some heartwarming positive messages, but the characters are so non-endearing and the storyline is so mechanical that in the end, you just don't care.