Bridge to Terabithia

I told myself that it would be nice to watch a nice fairytale story again. Well, that's exactly what I got. A beautiful fairytale story where reality intertwines with the incredible, similar to the movie "Big Fish". It certainly doesn't reach the quality of Burton's brilliant film "Terabithia", but the child actors' performances are what really hold it together. The imagination aspect is not that great, but still, it's supposed to be a child's imagination, so it can have its limitations. The film tries to shock with one big moment, which it succeeds in, but the consequences for the heroes are not that significant. It's true that I wanted a happy ending, but I'm glad that something similar didn't happen. Don't show it to children, they could be very sad. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/04/diar-milovnika-filmu-c-005-reziser.html (15/02/2013)

Don't expect any Chronicles of Narnia or anything like that. The Bridge to Terabithia approaches fantasy from a completely different perspective than we are used to. We do meet cute monsters, mysterious giants and a fairytale world, but it all happens against the backdrop of the real life of two children who don't have it easy. At first I was rather looking around and impatiently waiting for something in the style of Narnia, but the director had a completely different intention and built the film on an imaginative blend of reality and rich children's fantasy, and he did it almost perfectly within the limits of his possibilities. And the final half an hour with a slightly depressing touch completely got me, the story was building up nicely and I was even quite soft. A classic Disney flick, but delivered in a completely different (and great) way. (07/07/2012)

The whole picture begins shamefully with a premature climax. With those fantastic opening credits. However, after them a movie follows that finally deserves to be described as a fantasy, because it manages to shatter any fantasy you may have. My joy knew no bounds. But it was killed by the same thing that kills all similar movies. CGI scenes for no reason at all and the movie’s greatest boon that I mentioned above. Where before your fantasy was working full on, then the creators use a computer instead. And the whole atmosphere is spoiled. Unfortunately, afterward it’s impossible to return to what once was. There are moments when it almost looks like things will return, but it never makes the return fully. Plus, despite the excellent orchestral music, many scenes have pop songs as background music with hellish texts (a perfect example is when they are painting the room - the music ruins the whole scene). I wouldn’t like to give you the impression that Terabithia is a bad movie. It isn’t. In fact, of the current glut of kids’ movies from across the ocean, this is the clear king. But it’s very clear just how much better it could be. I could kick the filmmakers in the butt for wasting this amazing potential. They might learn from it for next time. (28/06/2008)

The fewer the effects and fantastic quests, the more soul and magic. The intro may give the impression of a fantasy ignitor for extinct emos, but the excellent soundtrack and very good child actors give the film the joyful magic of free fantasizing. A unique mix of children's coloring books, Peter Pan and a love story for teenagers takes on a new dimension after a twist, which surprisingly revealed to me how much I was able to empathize with the film's cuteness. Very pleasant and peacefully acquired emotions, Gábor Csupó can do almost exactly what Marc Forster did with his Finding Neverland… and like him, he does not have excessive visuality, but the work with the characters is excellent, and I admit that I shed a tear. A film for everyone who likes to return to childhood and sometimes lives in dreams. (13/05/2008)

The theme is essential and the basic idea that friendship and human imagination can overcome many problems and beautify the surrounding world is undoubtedly truthful and deeply human. However, I have a problem with the execution, which seems template-like, emotionally calculated (especially the ending), and directorially conventional. I was also not satisfied with the cast, especially the children - not that the children acted outrightly badly, but their performers lacked charisma. Last but not least, I also disliked the level of special effects, although that is something I usually do not pay attention to. Overall impression: 50%. (31/01/2009)