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Inkheart
For one thing, the name of the villain isn't Inkheart, it's Capricorn. Inkheart is the name of the book he comes out, which really has nothing to do with anything.
I missed the opening five minutes, but it's a kid's movie, so the first five minutes are just narration to explain things you're going to find out anyway. Basically, there are Silver Tongues who can make anything they read aloud come to life, and despite three of them being in the same movie, no one ever realizes that there are people running around with nigh-omnipotent powers.
X years ago Mo (really?) and his wife were reading to their infant daughter when Mo's power manifested itself, bringing out villain Capricorn, antivillain Dustfinger, and a random henchman. However, there's an exchange rate, so Mo's wife went into the book (although later the movie forgets about this entirely, by literally having Mo say "Hey, I think I can control this."). Conveniently enough, it's a very rare book, so Mo spends the next nine years it takes for his daughter to grow up to kid-movie heroine status searching for another copy before he thinks to just find the author.
So Capricorn wants Mo's power so he can take over the world, Dustfinger wants Mo's power so he can get back home to his wife, and Mo wants a copy of Inkheart so he can get his wife back. The rest unfolds about as you'd expect, although it does perk up with Jim Broadbent doing his usual reliable work as the author of Inkheart, who is delighted to meet his creations even if they are threatening him with death and dismemberment.
It's all done well enough, until the third act, when all the interesting characters sit out a climax that goes off with all the force of a wet firecracker. Even worse, Dustfinger gets two separate endings, back to back. They give him one scene of closure, then another entirely different one back to back. Shoddy, shoddy writing. Although I suppose I would work a series of deceptions and betrayals to get back to Jennifer Connolly too.
On a sidenote, Dustfinger has the power to generate and manipulate flames, yet he never thinks to use them when threatened by men with (gasp!) knives. Some morally ambiguous antihero.
For one thing, the name of the villain isn't Inkheart, it's Capricorn. Inkheart is the name of the book he comes out, which really has nothing to do with anything.
I missed the opening five minutes, but it's a kid's movie, so the first five minutes are just narration to explain things you're going to find out anyway. Basically, there are Silver Tongues who can make anything they read aloud come to life, and despite three of them being in the same movie, no one ever realizes that there are people running around with nigh-omnipotent powers.
X years ago Mo (really?) and his wife were reading to their infant daughter when Mo's power manifested itself, bringing out villain Capricorn, antivillain Dustfinger, and a random henchman. However, there's an exchange rate, so Mo's wife went into the book (although later the movie forgets about this entirely, by literally having Mo say "Hey, I think I can control this."). Conveniently enough, it's a very rare book, so Mo spends the next nine years it takes for his daughter to grow up to kid-movie heroine status searching for another copy before he thinks to just find the author.
So Capricorn wants Mo's power so he can take over the world, Dustfinger wants Mo's power so he can get back home to his wife, and Mo wants a copy of Inkheart so he can get his wife back. The rest unfolds about as you'd expect, although it does perk up with Jim Broadbent doing his usual reliable work as the author of Inkheart, who is delighted to meet his creations even if they are threatening him with death and dismemberment.
It's all done well enough, until the third act, when all the interesting characters sit out a climax that goes off with all the force of a wet firecracker. Even worse, Dustfinger gets two separate endings, back to back. They give him one scene of closure, then another entirely different one back to back. Shoddy, shoddy writing. Although I suppose I would work a series of deceptions and betrayals to get back to Jennifer Connolly too.
On a sidenote, Dustfinger has the power to generate and manipulate flames, yet he never thinks to use them when threatened by men with (gasp!) knives. Some morally ambiguous antihero.
