A picturesque film, good, but not GREAT

Rating: 7/10 (14 January 2002)

Perhaps, I have a slightly different perspective of this film as I had not read the book beforehand.
What I found was a film, that was lavish in cinematography. The visuality and imagery was of an extremely high standard, which did add to the film. It did *feel* like a fantasy indeed. I was drawn into the film due to the landscape, it seemed plausible, nay, even possible, that maybe somewhere in the distant past, perhaps magic such as featured in this film actually occurred!
The plot however, I did find somewhat cliched and predictable. There was nothing exceptional in this film in my opinion, and there was no way I could even compare it to the sci-fi extravaganzas of star wars etc.
It was quite a slow film, which I was understanding of, as I am aware of the depth that needed to be implemented due to the novel being such a vast undertaking.
Perhaps I got caught up in all the high evaluations of the film, it was not as good as I expected. However, even without the high praise, I do not feel it would have changed my opinion - quite a good film, but not great.