Enchanting fantasy turns teen into sweet, selfless princess.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 13, 2017

Enchanting fantasy turns teen into sweet, selfless princess.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 25, 2011

Richards starred in 2007's The Golden Compass and, compared with big-budget fantasies of that kind, this smaller effort can't help looking mimsy, despite its good intentions.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 12, 2009

A film about magic that remains obdurately unmagical.

| Feb 12, 2009

A sluggish narrative is further hampered by "comic" turns (Juliet Stevenson, as a gurning governess) and some frankly shameless knockoffs.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 10, 2009

Routine special effects merely add to the impression that this is a second division fantasy.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 10, 2009

A sweet if faintly soporific fantasy adventure for family audiences.

| Feb 6, 2009

This whimsical children's tale is uninspired yet doesn't drop far enough below mediocrity to justify a place in the lineup of "so-bad-they're-good" movies.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 6, 2009

Fantasy doesn't come feebler than this.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 6, 2009

It's a slow-moving affair with wooden acting, duff special effects and some woefully unfunny comic moments from Tim Curry as an undersized chef. All in all, the thing's severely lacking in magic.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 6, 2009

The Secret Of Moonacre lacks action, adventure and magic.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 6, 2009

Luminescent and transporting, this is a fairy tale you'll want to live inside - just not one you'll want to sit through for 103 minutes.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 6, 2009

Whilst missing a trick in terms of script and casting, at least they've amped up the action from the somewhat sedate book.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 5, 2009

Nicely put together, but just a little dull.

| Original Score: 2/6 | Feb 5, 2009

It's not quite a disaster but this disappointing and poorly executed fantasy adventure never reaches the level of magic and enchantment it needs to succeed.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 5, 2009

Apart from some wooden over-acting, The Secret of Moonacre is a shrewd mix of live action and exotic animation by the Hungarian director Gabor Csupo.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 5, 2009

The cast looks vaguely uncomfortable too. Even shameless scenery-chewer Curry can't muster any enthusiasm for an over-earnest script that throws around pearls of non-wisdom like moondust.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 5, 2009

The costumes are beautiful. The sets are impressive... But somehow the movie feels cheap and malnourished, as if the money ran out when they were only halfway there.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 5, 2009

The production design gives us plenty for the eye but a dull screenplay and patchy editing hardly bring the fantasy to life.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 5, 2009

Poorly written, badly acted and ultimately disappointing fantasy adventure that suffers from plodding direction and fails to connect on an emotional level.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 5, 2009