Phenomenal visuals, shame about the story...

Rating: 7/10 (15 November 2009)

Don't get me wrong, I liked this movie very much. It is nice to watch around Christmas time. The film respects the book of the same name, which I think is a great one. Actually it was one of my favourites, a timeless Christmas story about the power of belief, faith and hope. Back to the film, one thing that was a definite plus was the visuals. They were phenomenal, colourful and looked as though the animators had gone to extreme lengths to make it neat. The character animation was just as impressive. The music is very good, with sparkling motifs and haunting secondary themes. The end credits song is truly beautiful. Another plus was the voice cast, Tom Hanks stands out obviously. He voices five or six characters here, and he was great as always. However, the film does take a while to get going, and the script is rather simplistic. And while the visuals were outstanding, the story while respectfully true to the book(while adding characters and changing existing ones) just isn't compelling enough, and is made up of disconnected,unexplained and sometimes rushed scenes in terms of story telling. All in all, a nice Christmas film that is well worth watching chiefly for the visuals. 7/10 Bethany Cox