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January 12, 2007
Arthur and the Invisibles
(out of four)
It was, of course, inevitable. A shaggy-haired Haley Joel Osment was busted last October for marijuana possession. And Dakota Fanning went dark, playing a 12-year-old rape victim in her next movie, Hounddog.
America needs a new child actor, a fresh-faced, bright-eyed symbol of unvarnished innocence. Enter Freddie Highmore, the immensely likable star of Arthur and the Invisibles. He plays the live-action half of the movie's title character, who follows his grandfather's secret instructions and shrinks down to Tic Tac-scale for a computer-animated treasure hunt in his own backyard.
Directed by Luc Besson, this inventive family movie sets up the most delightful premise, then squanders it on the kind of yawn-inducing CG adventure you might expect from one of those long, plot-heavy cut scenes that slow down video games.
Pint-size movie buffs will recognize Highmore as the teary-eyed boy from Finding Neverland, or better yet, the star of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He's infectiously enthusiastic, with the kind of British accent American kids find incredibly exotic — just the type of hero you'd want for such a film.
But there's a jarring shift that occurs when Arthur joins the tiny Minimoys. Even with top-shelf celebs (Robert De Niro, Snoop Dogg, David Bowie, Madonna) voicing the cartoon characters, these dandelion-haired troll doll-looking creatures are stuck coping with all the usual microscopic political intrigue, rendered predictable by countless Ant Bully-style stories before it.
Quick, cast Highmore in something else before he grows up!
[as featured in The Miami Herald]
Posted by Peter Debruge on