Not perfect, but not half bad either

Rating: 6/10 (11 February 2018)

I somehow did not watch this movie for 15 years, despite having enjoyed these books as a child and as a parent. I'm not totally positive what held me back, but it may have been the sense that even with great CGI (check), some strong performances (check), and faithfulness to the book (check) this would be hard to get totally right. I was mostly right about that. That said, we watched right after re-reading this book with my youngest, and I can say that it mostly worked. It is not LOTR (or anywhere close), but that's not a fair standard - especially for a children's book. The middle sagged, and the embellishments were unnecessary...but it was worth watching.