Visually amazing but has it's flaws

Rating: 6/10 (13 March 2012)

This is a movie intentionally made for kids and the whole family, but to some degree it's disappointing. Adults can sit through this movie but for kids, it just doesn't seem that enjoyable for them. This movie is directed by Martin Scorsese and it shows because the cinematography the editing is just amazingly done, although it seems a bit too long. But it sort of lacks in the story department and for a Scorsese movie the dialogue isn't all that great. Which is a shame cause Scorsese is made movies that are really character and story driven in the past. I am not sure if it's because he can't pull of the same feats that he can do with adult movies, but this one lacks in that. Sure the whole family can enjoy this movie but it's something so much more that it can't really be generalized like that even with the flaws. In some aspects the movie seemed to lean more for the adult audiences to the point I can see why the kids might get bored watching this sometimes. But what this is, is a vivid and refreshing fairytale that is intriguing and even a bit riveting most of the way through. The movie takes a while to understand what is going on though but the way it shows piece by piece of the story is very well done, although there isn't a lot of meat in the story. But everything else is just wonderful to watch, especially the town and the environment this movie takes place in, is almost dream like. This is a very well crafted fable experience for just about anyone that should not be missed. But might disappoint if your looking for a very good character driven movie with a amazing plot. The movie can also get a bit tedious sometimes but it did brought back a bit of the nostalgic feel from back in elementary school during story time. Since it's a Martin Scorsese film and judging by the advertisement this seemed like it's going to be a epic magical super amazing adventure which this is not. The build up sort of drags and doesn't lead to something super exciting, but the story isn't way too bad, just nothing special. Especially since for most audience, they won't know what the main story is about for over an hour, which is pretty bad since it's for kids as well. But it's far from being a bad movie and it really is worthwhile movie that is really worth seeing it with the whole family. In another words it's sort of a visceral experience, except leaning more to the visual elements than emotions. It's a good movie but if the environment was used more effectively for the plot it would have been better. So overall, disappointing yes, but still watchable.
6/10