It's nothing new for Hollywood to copy a hit to death. Following the success of HARRY POTTER every studio wanted its own fantasy franchise based on a best selling young adult book. Some trends are not always a bad thing, especially when it brings books like Cornelia Funke's INKHEART to the screen. While the story seems better suited to the written medium, director Iain Softley (HACKERS) retains the sense of discovery and adventure that the source material has.
Mo Folchart (Brendan Fraser, THE MUMMY series) has a powerful gift (or curse depending on how you look at it). When he reads written words out loud items from the stories come into the real world. The problem is that he has little control over how it works. Folchart is a book collector and travels around the world with his daughter Meggie (Eliza Bennett, NANCY MCPHEE), looking for a copy of the rare book Inkheart, which seems to have something to do with the disappearance of his wife Resa (Sienna Guillory, ERAGON). But when he finally does find a copy, it sets off a strange series of events, which include a bitter and selfish fire-blower named Dustfinger (Paul Bettany, A BEAUTIFUL MIND), the lonely author of the book Fenoglio (Jim Broadbent, MOULIN ROUGE!), one of Ali Baba's 40 thieves named Farid (Rafi Gavron, BREAKING AND ENTERING) and the Inkheart villain Capricorn (Andy Serkis, LORD OF THE RINGS), who likes the real world's riches and firearms. Also whipped along on the adventure against her will is Mo's reclusive, but feisty, book-loving aunt Elinor (Helen Mirren, THE QUEEN).
Many a book lover will find the homages to classic adventure and fantasy stories enchanting. But what they'll really respond to is how the film captures the feeling of discovery that a good book can create. As for writing, the story captures its power. I wondered why this film with its pedigree was being dumped in the wasteland of January. Now after seeing the film, my cynical side tells me studio execs might be afraid young viewers will skip their next talking animal picture for a classic talking animal book like WIZARD OF OZ instead. As a lover of books myself, I've never seen a film that inspired me to want to read as much as this film did. I went home after and flew through a troublesome book I was reading with ease and renewed excitement. That's a dangerous thing for a movie to do unless the same studio has a publishing arm.
I've heard that Funke had Fraser in mind when she wrote the character of Mo "Silvertongue" Folchart, whose last name seems like something you'd find in Excel not an adventure story. Because he inspired Folchart, Fraser fits naturally in the role. It's not much different than the exasperated adventurers he's played before; only this character is in a better movie. David Lindsay-Abaire's adaptation handles the multiple characters and story threads fairly well without losing momentum or losing the audience. But that's from an adult perspective, a younger child might lose their way when characters start flipping sides and disappearing and reappearing. Bettany is given the most fleshed out role as the torn Inkheart character who puts getting back home to his family above all other concerns. In the standard villain and comic relief roles, Serkis, Broadbent and Mirren make their characters better than they are.
While the story isn't free of plotholes and contrivances, its fun spirit of adventure carries it over these problems. And while this is an early year release, it's got summer level visual effects, which never let the story down. The Shadow's appearance at the end is quite impressive. Hopefully, unlike other young adult series such as LEMONY SNICKET and HIS DARK MATERIALS, which never got past the first adventure on screen, INKHEART will find film fans and inspire sequels based on Funke's INKSPELL and INKDEATH. The only thing left to say is "got any recommendations on the next book I should read?"
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
