"Inkheart"

I am a major fan of Cornelia Funke, the author of the "Inkheart" series, "Thief Lord" and many other great books.  When I saw that they were making a movie of "Inkheart" I got goosebumps.  This book happens to be one of my favorite children's books.  I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a book full of adventure, fantastic characters, beautiful writing and an incredible story.  

So I was very excited when the movie came out a couple of weeks ago.  My sister and I were planning on going and I decided to take Michela and Hunter along.  So I was a bit saddened that it got such horrible reviews.  Now, I pretty much like every movie I see, I'm not too hard to please, but I thought the reviews would be 4 stars for a story like this.  I didn't let the bad reviews keep me away though.  

So we went to the movie over the weekend, minus Hunter (story of that to follow) and waited with growing anticipation for the movie to start.  The scenery was beautiful!  Most of it was filmed in Italy, so no surprise there.  I loved the actors.  Personally I like Branden Fraser, before the "Mummy" films he did some great stuff like "With Honors" and "School Ties".  Don't get me wrong, I love the "Mummy" films too.  Helen Mirren was spot on as Aunt Elinor, she also provided some much needed humor.  The girl who played Meggie did a wonderful job, I must say she is a much better actress than Kristin Stewart in "Twilight".  The villians were perfect and Paul Bettany could do no wrong as Dustfinger.  They did make a few changes to the story, but they kept in the keeping of the idea of the book. 

I wouldn't take small kids, there are a few scary moments in the film, but Michela is almost 10 and she did just fine.  Hunter is almost 8 and he would have been fine too, but he decided he didn't want to go for other reasons.  So my review would be out of 4 stars I would give it 3.5 stars.  If you are one of those people who hate it when the movie isn't just like the book, then you might be a wee bit disappointed.  But if you understand that a movie can never be as good as the book and just go with an open mind and  are looking for a fun night at the movies I think you will be throughly pleased.  

Now, on to Hunter's story.  So as we were getting ready to go out the door Hunter started saying he didn't want to go to the movie.  I'm thinking, "what is wrong with this kid?"  So I tell him to just go get in the car and to stop whining about it.  I know he will like the movie so I think I'll just put up with it for a bit.  As we are pulling away I look in the rearview mirror and see him seriously pouting.  So I stopped and asked him why he didn't want to go to the movie.  Silence.  I tell him the movie is full of lots of action and adventure and I'm sure he'll love it.  More Silence.  I cannot stand it when he does this.  I was really not in the mood to put up with a night of pouting and with him I didn't know if he was going to throw a big tantrum when we got to the movie.  Picture me trying to pull him out of the car while he is screaming and holding on to the seat with all his might.  Not a pretty picture.  So I told him to get out of the car and walk back home, we were just two houses away not a mile away.  Now he starts crying.  What is the deal?  So I ask him again if he really doesn't want to go and he says he doesn't want to go to the movie.  So he gets out of the car and I watch him until he is in the house.  Now I feel bad.  Should I have made him go?  Would he have ended up liking it or would he have been miserable.  Is he now at home crying to Mike telling him that I am a mean Mom?  So the next day Michela asked him why he didn't want to go to the movie.  His answer, "I didn't want to see any kissing."  Oh my Heavens!  I had a good laugh at that one.  What a silly boy, I would have told him when to cover his eyes.  Oh well, at least I know not to try and take him to anything that might have kissing in it in the future.  Kids are so hilarious sometimes.