A suggestion to the "movie critics" here: when you intentionally choose to watch a film made for children and younger teens, it's a little goofy to rate it low because it turns out to be a film for children and young teens-- and doesn't meet your personal expectations of cerebral cinema. Seriously.
This is a terrific film that is well-written, well-directed, and above all well-acted. Every actor in this film pulls of his/her part with the perfect mixture of seriousness and humor. From the heroine to the rather horrid General (ugh, Cleese pulled that off abhorrently well), every role in this was nicely played. Liam McIntyre nearly stole the show as the evil henchman... except the other actors were quite good as well.
It would be a mistake to take this film too seriously. It was obviously intended as a dark comedy for the younger set. Young and teenage girls will likely love the horse theme. But older ones of both genders might appreciate the humor, the morality play, the story-lesson, and overall quality of the movie.
Is it perfect? No of course not. If one expected perfection going in, that would be somewhat delusional. Ranting at a kid's film for being a kid's film is one of those duh things. This is exactly what it's presented to be, achieved its goal, and was enjoyable all the way through. The ending was somewhat predictable and cliche, but was anyone really expecting anything different? Overall this is a decent family film and a fun watch.
This is a terrific film that is well-written, well-directed, and above all well-acted. Every actor in this film pulls of his/her part with the perfect mixture of seriousness and humor. From the heroine to the rather horrid General (ugh, Cleese pulled that off abhorrently well), every role in this was nicely played. Liam McIntyre nearly stole the show as the evil henchman... except the other actors were quite good as well.
It would be a mistake to take this film too seriously. It was obviously intended as a dark comedy for the younger set. Young and teenage girls will likely love the horse theme. But older ones of both genders might appreciate the humor, the morality play, the story-lesson, and overall quality of the movie.
Is it perfect? No of course not. If one expected perfection going in, that would be somewhat delusional. Ranting at a kid's film for being a kid's film is one of those duh things. This is exactly what it's presented to be, achieved its goal, and was enjoyable all the way through. The ending was somewhat predictable and cliche, but was anyone really expecting anything different? Overall this is a decent family film and a fun watch.