Warner (USA)
2.35:1 1080p
106 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 German
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, Spanish, German
Extras: deleted scenes; A Story from the Cast and Crew; From Imagination to the Page: How Writers Write; Eliza Reads to Us; BD-Live; DVD version plus Digital Copy
Released: 23 June 2009
There’s always someone making fantasy movies, but the huge box-office grosses of Peter Jackson’s LOTR trilogy and the Harry Potter series encouraged the Hollywood majors to develop other family-friendly fantasy literature with franchise potential. However, fantasy is a tricky genre, and most fantasy movies get tripped by inconsistent rules, cumbersome exposition, lack of credibility, an inability to generate audience interest/empathy, or some combination of the four. For every Harry Potter you get at least one disappointment like Walden Media’s The Chronicles of Narnia, which went from a robust first movie to a dead-in-the-water second entry.
German novelist Cornelia Funke’s books have become international bestsellers, but cinematic adaptations of her works have been met with general indifference. The Thief Lord generated much buzz in literature circles but was ultimately seen by few people. Inkheart met the same fate despite boasting a cast that includes Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent, and Andy Serkis. Fraser has headlined several hits. Mirren and Broadbent are Oscar winners. Bettany has been in big hits, too. Serkis played Gollum in Peter Jackson’s LOTR and had an important part in Jackson’s King Kong. So, what happened?
The movie certainly has inconsistent rules. It’s never clear how characters and people are “read out of” or “read into” a book. Also, while the story takes place in contemporary times, it seems as if today’s social authorities (the police, the military, even governments) are non-existent, so no one other than the main characters seem surprised to see fictional characters suddenly appearing in real life. The movie isn’t burdened by cumbersome exposition, though it would’ve benefited from a bit more explanation of the narrative’s construct.
The movie also lacks credibility. With the exception of Helen Mirren’s lakeside villa, the production values look second-rate. The villains just wear cheap knock-offs of someone’s idea of fascist attire. The movie also doesn’t generate much empathy. The screenplay asks us to feel pathos about the fact that a bookbinder and his daughter are looking for their long-lost wife/mother “just because” that’s what we’re supposed to feel. Unfortunately, we don’t become familiar or emotionally close with any of the characters, so we don’t really care what happens. Of course, the movie marches towards the usual orgy of CGI effects, and since we’re not invested in the characters’ journey, you’ll find your eyes glazed over in boredom or indifference.
By the way...yes, that’s Jennifer Connelly in a cameo as Bettany’s wife (they’re married in real life, too).
Video:
The 2.35:1 1080p transfer has an overly-bright look which sometimes imparts an unwelcome softness. The image appears to be heavily-processed. Though not as muddy as the SD transfer, the picture has a surprising lack of fine-object detail compared to other recent movies.
Audio:
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English track packs quite a wallop during action-heavy moments. Directionality effects are numerous and immersive, particularly when the “Silvertongues” read from books and pull characters, gold coins, and turbulent storms into our reality. Dialogue is balanced fairly well against the sonic maelstrom.
Extras:
As far as movie-pertinent extras go, you get several deleted scenes but practically no insight into how the movie was made.
“A Story from the Cast and Crew” begins with Cornelia Funke starting a story with contributions by members of the production. “From Imagination to the Page: How Writers Write” presents Funke and other people talking about how they tell their stories. “Eliza Reads to Us” has actress Eliza Hope Bennett reading a passage from the source novel.
Those of you with Internet-enabled players can access BD-Live features.
--Miscellaneous--
Instead of the usual Digital Copy disc, you also get a DVD version (which still includes a Digital Copy). You also get a cardboard slipcover.
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