Kid Stuff

We got a recommendation for Arthur and the Invisibles from a friend, but not one with reliable taste (if you're reading this, sorry, but it's true). Since it was directed by Luc Besson, we figured it couldn't really miss.

Well, it could have been worse. I rank it somewhere around Labyrinth - which also featured David Bowie as the villain. A nice look, some fun parts, nothing bad, just not so great.

A 10-year old boy (cutie Freddie Highmore from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) gets shrunk to bug size to find his grandfather among the "minimoys", animated microscopic trolls. He meets a beautiful minimoy princess (modelled on Franka Potente, but voiced by Madonna with admirable restraint) and a wishnik-looking prince (voiced by the always suspect Jimmy Fallon). They set off on a quest against the evil M... Malthazar (voiced by David Bowie, who seemed be having a ball).

The animation is OK, but I didn't find Arthur and his princess as adorable as they are supposed to be. Maybe I'm just too old, the wrong demographic or something.

But Mia Farrow, as Arthur's grandmother, is way too young. She is gorgeous.