Bland and mediocre attempt at an epic

Rating: 2/10 (24 October 2006)

Fairly bland and sanitized attempt at an epic, which has some beautiful landscapes and interesting characters, but not much else. Some pretty terrible performances from the kid actors, and some truly crappy CGI for the various woodland creatures. Some scenes are kinda cool, but, for the most part, they're far too childish and boring. I mean, Santa Claus giving them weapons? You've gotta be kidding me. And the final battle scene is so poorly executed that's it's barely exciting or even interesting. Still, the production design is top-notch, and it never feels boring or overtly preachy (though I could clearly make out the thinly veiled Christian symbolism). Overall, simply mediocre.