One of my all time favourite movies, the storyline is great, the action was amazing, and the romance wasn't the main point of the story line the budding romance formed naturally and wasn't focused on until the feelings were realised. This was very refreshing, I loved every thing about this movie. I would highly recommend that anyone should watch it. A fairytale with mystery, romance, a curse, and magic.

This is a lovely family/children's movie. It is a unique fairy tale that, though not very complex (remember it is mainly for children) is very clever and quite funny at times. The acting is very good and the sets and costumes are exquisite. I was thoroughly entertained and wish there were more movies like this out there. I rate movies by how much I wish they would not end so quickly, and this one was over far too fast.I am a big Tim Curry fan, and while this part did not really showcase his abilities, I still appreciated seeing him in this kind of movie. The characters are very rich and the attention to detail made some of the scenes magical. If you enjoy fairy tales don't pass this movie up!

Young Maria Merryweather (Dakota Blue Richards) loses her father leaving her orphaned and penniless. She goes to live with her uncle Sir Benjamin (Ioan Gruffudd) at the mysterious Moonacre Manor. Maria finds a world of ancient feud with the De Noir family. She is the last Moon Princess and she must find the magic pearls before the next moonrise or else a dark curse will doom the Merryweather family.There is a lot of history and backstory to go through. Based on book The Little White Horse, there's a lot of explaining for the first half. There is a lack of magic in this fantasy movie. The Moonacre Manor is supposed to be rundown, but it's ruined state has no atmosphere. It looked cheap rather than moody or Gothic. That goes for all the other sets and FX. All of it looked cheap. The story rambles on and on. It lacks adventure, tension, and importantly joy. The great actors can do nothing with this mess of material.

Having seen Dakota Blue Richards in The Golden Compass which I loved immensely, I was excited to see her again in another fantasy movie. And while this is a fantasy movie of a different type, I must say I enjoyed this just as much. This movie has a really simple plot which develops slowly but I do think most things are explained in one way or another. However I would have loved a bit more background story about some of the characters such as Robin and his father Coeur De Noir. I have not read the book so I am sure the director left some things out that weren't developed in the movie. There is obviously a suggestion there could be a relationship between Robin and Maria. The ending seemed a bit rushed and I had loved they gave that some more attention, some more screening time. I must say that this movie was maybe not so good if Dakota didn't give such a strong performance as Maria Merryweather. The others really couldn't have carried this movie but play their role well. There is some humor in it in the characters of Miss Heliotrope (she is a little burpy) and the chef (French accent so cliché) which the children will love. I didn't find that funny but wasn't bothered with it either. The story in itself was serious and good and that was what mattered to me. And there are fantasy elements like unicorn, black lion which are mostly symbolic. It's no Chronicles of Narnia, not as overwhelming as Golden Compass or Stardust but a sweet little movie that has its place in the fantasy genre. I had no regrets seeing it.