this movie is reminiscent of an old American cartoon called the littles. this movie is slow at the start, set in the united states, when it should have ben set in the English country side, all in all the best I can give it is, it's nice, nothing spectacular but nice, worth a watch at least once.

eccentric, seductive, nice. a film for every age because Luc Besson gives not only a quality animation but a lovely story. adventures, small mythology, seductive characters and a not complicated plot. and presence of Madonna or Mia Farrow in cast is an important detail. but the most important is Freddie Highmore who, like in many other cases, creates a splendid character. yes, it is not the best movie and many critics are expected from viewers but to be a masterpiece is not the purpose of director but a form of entertainment who gives to children nice story, to adults memories about golden age. a film who can not enthuse but gives a cute story and a lovely universe.

Luc Besson's first ever foray into animation, and only second foray into film-making as a whole for six years, provides us with a curious little piece called Aruthr et les Minimoys. The film is not without its flaws nor annoyances, but overall I found it to be quite an enjoyable little romp through a number of subjects, issues and themes playing out under one of those umbrellas of live action mingling in with cartoon animation. The film offers wonderful entertainment for kids as it shoots along its fantastical route of warm, family infused environments; some threat in the form of an outside force attempting to put pay to the set up; an escape into an alternate universe in which a colourful array of characters and rules govern that particular space; as well as a series of animated scenes acting as sheer spectacle once the narrative has got rolling.The film is primarily concerned with a young boy and his escape from one world, or 'reality', into another. The case here is Freddie Highmore's titular role Arthur, a young and curiously English boy living in early 1960s rural America with his Grandmother, on a farm. In terms of friends and contact with those outside of his domain, his parents are nowhere and his Grandfather has been missing for a good while. As far as openings go, the child friendly setting of Arthur's farm is colourful, peaceful and set away from most other dangers creating a wide open space for Arthur to enjoy all by himself. He enjoys reading of his grandfather's exploits in foreign territory and is at a curious age in which the world around him is beginning to become more and more noticeable. This somewhat ideal setting is disrupted when some of those typically nasty suit-clad men arrive with the goal to shut the whole thing down. It turns out, the family have a few days to pay rather-a large sum of cash or face eviction.Armed with a developing brain; some might say a sprawling imagination and knowledge there is priceless treasure buried somewhere on the grounds that would pay off the debt, Arthur goes on a quest to uncover the truth and save the day. Arthur's transformation into a creature known as a 'Minimoy' as he burrows below the grounds of the farm and into an alternate world could quite easily be read into as a psychological 'escape' from one horrid situation into a dream-like Utopian setting. Only, both the transformation and study that worked so extraordinarily in the previous year's Pan's Labyrinth, isn't rendered quite as ambiguous this time round as the young lead attempts to escape from their predicament, and into a fabricated world which is further distilled by the horrors they're already living with. Besson even renders the villain of the piece here, Emperor Malthazar, voiced by David Bowie, as a sort of imitation of the Pale Man himself.Within this new world, Arthur is somewhat of a superhero; so much so that when the fatal and extremely dangerous quest is undertaken, it's deemed he's able to go it alone without the aid of any sort of backup nor guards of any description – just he and two select others. One of these is Princess Selenia (Madonna), the daughter of the leader of the Minimoys – a character that Arthur, up on surface level whilst in human form, took to somewhat in that innocent and young manner only he could, when he found her in cartoon form drawn on some paper and kissed it. Again, the lines between maddening reality and what would act perfectly fine as a out-and-out fantasy is toyed with when we assume the character of the princess and her appeal to him might be a fabrication of his own imagination.At worst, Arthur and the Invisibles a reasonably good child's fare that cracks along at a healthy pace. The trend of updating fairy stories and incorporating other texts and popular culture references, thus rendering the text of a post-modern kind is close to vacant, offering a refreshing change to a lot of other, recent animation films attempting to branch out to the widest possible audience. It's additionally refreshing to have a female character as strong as the lead, as she works with the lead, in their attempt to thwart evil; while I think there's a knowing element to the protagonist's task of having to rescue another character locked away in a dungeon - not a maiden but someone else this time. It's good to see a lead female in this type of film, not as a prize to be rescued and won, but as an action infused side-kick.Along the way, very basic but necessary ideas linked to team-work will sprout up with the aim to target any kids watching, I'm sure. There is also time for Besson to stamp an authoritarian and somewhat personal mark on the piece when a large-scale fight scene plays out at a disco. A recent reading of Susan Hayward's 1998 book on Besson sees her write about 'violence as performance' in Besson's films; acts that are often carefully choreographed within the film and thus resemble some sort of dance or performance: think the opening hit in Léon; the SWAT team assault during the finale of Léon as well as a certain fight scene in The Fifth Element involving Milla Jovovich's character, inter-cut with an operatic performance. Written before this film was made, similar sorts of ideas and aesthetics are played out once again by the Frenchman. But the film is no disaster on the whole. I'm don't think whatever rumoured or planned sequels are entirely necessary, as the tale; the ideas and messages have been explored here to the point of satisfaction. This is one for parents and kids alike looking for a break from the strenuous glut of Shrek films and others that feature talking animals.

I have seen a lot of children's movies out there that have used CGI animation and other techniques to make a film more attractive to an audience, of both kids and adults. When I was going to watch this movie with my little sister, I thought it would be an OK kids movie. I was wrongThe main thing that bugged me about this movie was the acting and the actors that they choose. I mean you can have a musical guest star in a film every once in a while, but nearly every main character in the movie was a stinking movie artist. You had Madonna, Snoop Dogg, and David Bowie, and other voices including Jimmy Fallon and Robert De Niro. Now when you put all of these actors together, you get a bad cast. There is nothing new in this film, just a bunch of the same actors and artist that you have know for around 20 years. You can tell that the people who made this movie spent all their money on acting jobs, which sucked. They could have actually have searched through the archive and grab someone who was a little better at the job, actually take some times to take a look at the newbies or even those that have been around for a while, but have not been in a big roll on a Motion Picture. The only good actor in this movie i though was David Bowie. The story line was OK, but there were times where I was confused on what the heck was going on. The film really had a weird ending as well. The animation was good, but half the time I was freaked out by how the Minimoys looked from start to finish. Mix Lord of the Rings with Cabbage Patch kids and it still wouldn't be as bad as this.I think that they could have made this film so much better. It looks like they ran out of money as soon as they started production on this cursed film. Don't waste your time, its not good as all! Effects were good, and animation was great, but don't let that deceive you. Its the story that really matters, and trust me, these people need to go back to English class.