Inkheart (Iain Softley)
Owing much to the work of Terry Gilliam and the underrated Neil Gaiman penned Stardust, this seems like something I would like a lot, and that's why it was so disappointing to find myself checking the time and sighing at the thought of having 20 more minutes to go till the end. Although the basic premise of being able to read a page from a book aloud and have the things in it come into the real world is interesting, it seems under-utilised. Our lead is Mortimer, a "silvertongue" who can bring books to life, one day he is plunged into battle with the villains of a fantasy novel, but he never thinks it's a good idea, despite being surrounded by books in most scenes, to bring a couple of appropriate titles along for ammunition? It feels like a flimsy excuse to drag the story out for longer than is necessary, and for that reason I say this is an 80 minute film that lasts for 100.
The acting ranges from good to passable. Brendan Fraser, who I think is unfairly dismissed by most people, does a good job in the lead role, Andy Serkis is menacing enough as the smooth talking but rather unhinged villain, and Eliza Bennett is a believable female lead. It's really only Paul Bettany and his clunky accent, woefully mismatched with the dialogue (lots of "we gotta do this" "we gotta long road ahead of us" "you gotta read the book" gotta gotta gotta etc.), which is kind of off putting. It's actually a reminiscent of some of the dialogue/accent combinations in Skyrim, and that's not a good thing. Part of the blame lies with the characters themselves, they seem very much "to type", and while this is understandable from the perspective of some of them being taken right out of old fantasy stories, for me it just doesn't work.
The music is generic to say the least, but perfectly functional, which is impressive enough. The special effects are quite well done for the most part: extended shots of the Minotaur from the tale of Theseus which look quite believable, and the flying monkeys from Oz and so on, all fine. The Shadow, an original monster from the titular Inkheart book, looks pretty good too as it billows smoke and ash with every move, though I can't stop thinking it looks a bit like the Balrog from Lord of the Rings had an accident involving a giant fire extinguisher.
While it has good ideas, a decent cast, and good special effects, Inkheart seems to have a difficult time coming together into a genuinely satisfying film. As a fantasy "epic" it simply does not have the strength of its convictions and ends up being a severely flawed piece of work, but not in a charming way like the aforementioned Stardust, which I recommend checking out, along with Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, as quality contemporary alternatives that have more to offer.