The advertisements for this film had mislead me completely. I have never read the book, so my interest in Bridge to Terabithia was purely based on the movie trailers I had seen in theaters and over the internet. I had expected to take a journey through a magical country with all sorts of mythical creatures and landscapes (Chronicles of Narnia/Neverending Story), but instead I got something much more original.
Most of the film was set in the real world with just glimpses of the fantasy world of Terabithia. Although this was billed as a “children’s film”, it’s theme is geared to a much older audience. This was definitely not a bubble gum type flick and I would not recommend it to children under the age of twelve.
The best part of the film was its character development. It felt very seemless. The development of the friendship between the two main characters was very convincing and it prepares you for a very dramatic climax. I don’t think the climax would have been as good if the character developement was done poorly.
I thought this film was one of the more original films I had seen in quite sometime. It reminded me quite a bit of how I felt after watching Pan’s Labyrinth. For those who love great stories and original plots, this is definitely a film to see.
Fifth grader Jesse Aaron’s hopes of becoming the fastest runner in his class are dashed when new girl Leslie Burke outruns everybody, including him. However, Jess and Leslie soon begin a friendship, and discover a magical kingdom in the forest, where the two of them reign together as king and queen.
Hmm, I enjoy good films, and I did enjoy Pan’s Labyrinth. I’ll have to check this one out.
What I enjoyed most about this movie is that it helped me to remember some of the things I felt when I was kid. Most will definitely find at least one experience that they can relate to. Pretty good stuff.
like you, i watched this completely unaware. it was with my son’s 5th grade class and i thought the parts of it were too mature. a classmate of his got teary-eyed and then taunted after. kids are mean!
the fantasy meets reality was done very well, though.
i hate kids like that. Taunting others for being emotional. I wish I had a video clip of every kid being emotional, so when they tease another kid about crying, I could show of clip of them crying. haha
About 12 years ago, I was one of those 4th/5th graders that read the book and then watched the movie. The older version was not loyal to the kingdom of Terabithia and only focused on Leslie and Jesse. This version, however, was much more loyal (but how much exactly? It’s been a while since I read the book, so I can’t remember, but I was familiar with all the scenes in the movie in terms of it coinciding with the book). I don’t think that it’s too mature for kids at all.. then again, I am speaking about it as a former 4th/5th grader who read the book.
I really cried when Jesse poured his paints into the river (which is exactly the same part I got emotional over when reading the book) and when he was being held by his father. I’m an adult already, but I feel like I still relate to that boy.
I just loved how human this movie was and how it focused on looking for ‘the better story’ by keeping our minds wide open. (Hehe! Quoting the movie. =P)
great post Marz. Thanks for your insight.