Inkheart

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Inkheart was shot in and around Liguria on the Italian Riviera, and it looks absolutely ravishing.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

The story itself is so charmingly dense, fractious, and complicated that it frequently leaves the obvious good-guy-fights-bad-guy groove, and noses toward Terry Gilliam-esque randomness and ebullience.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Inkheart feels a little confused in its tone and direction, but only a little, and I appreciate the way it both celebrates the power of literature and reminds us that stories have a life beyond the page, even if they are only in our hearts and minds.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Mirren's all-out display in this distinctly British absurdo-literary extravaganza had me wishing Elinor were my own fabulous auntie and that she'd lend me some magic items from her closet.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

For the young people in its demographic wheelhouse, Inkheart packs a welcome amount of entertainment value, creating a genuinely original world of enchantment.

USA Today Claudia Puig

It's a shame that by its conclusion the movie feels like just another special-effects-driven story.

TV Guide Jason Buchanan

A film that's brimming with fascinating ideas and elevated by some memorable performances.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

A fine ensemble, some gorgeous Italian Riviera locales, intermittent flashes of magic amid a more manufactured air of whimsy.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Inkheart looks good and is well acted but, in the end, it left me indifferent.

Film Threat Matthew Sorrento

This children's fantasy flirts with the dark side, though family values win out. Thus, the movie remains devoted to heroism and is as opposed to the bad guys as it would be to killing off Brendan Fraser.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Cold, bland and gimmicky - that's how the movie has turned out.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The movie begins to seem a little overloaded and gimmicky once characters from children's classics begin turning up (including Toto from The Wizard of Oz), but it's handsomely mounted.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

You know a movie's not working when you see minotaurs, flying monkeys, "The Wizard of Oz's" Toto and Helen Mirren riding a unicorn -- all on the screen at the same time -- and you're still waiting for the thing to be over so you can go home and get on with your life.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Kamal AL-Solaylee

This is a stunning-looking film with a dark romantic cloud (quite literally) hanging over its every shot.

Variety Justin Chang

Despite abundant talent on both sides of the camera and a bevy of eye-catching supernatural beasties, this f/x-heavy story of a literature-loving father and daughter battling dark forces unleashed from the pages of a rare tome doesn't conjure much in the way of bigscreen magic.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Most of the time it looks like we're on the back lot for a Romanian production of "Lord of the Rings IV."

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Not realizing that Inkheart is based on a famous fantasy novel, I had the foolish hope the movie might be about books. No luck. Wait till you hear what it's about.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

The actors are mostly charming; Bettany in particular is broody and cool.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Graced with so many fanciful touches and features such a marvelous assortment of U.K. and American actors that it seems almost unjust that the final product is so curiously lacking in magic.

Los Angeles Times Sheri Linden

With no unifying sensibility, the magic thuds more often than it soars.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Inkheart goes crazy with fairy tale characters popping in and out, all sorts of fantastical creatures materializing and so many rescues one loses count. Yet the movie fails to involve the key constituent: the audience.

Village Voice Nick Pinkerton

It all smacks of that overdone "passion for literature" common in English teachers who send any healthy-minded kid running from books.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Aims for a blend of whimsy and tingly suspense but botches nearly every spell it tries to cast.

NPR Bob Mondello

It's all handsomely produced, but none of the characters (save perhaps Bettany's fire-juggler) has a distinctive enough personality to make much of an impression.

New York Post Kyle Smith

A flea market of fairy tales and hocus-pocus, Inkheart makes as much sense as an inkblot.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Not since the thunderous digital onslaughts of "Jumanji" has the big screen seen such too-muchness.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Seemingly intended as a celebration of the power of books, it's an occasionally incoherent, sleep-inducing picture that reduces narrative to mere mechanics.

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

A kids' adventure movie can be a lot of things -- wild and woolly, loosey-goosey, full of foolishness -- but they should never be shabby. And that's the best word for Inkheart.