Today I finally got my hands on a copy of The Bridge to Terabithia (TBtT), which I’d been dying to see for months (along with Pan’s Labyrinth), and before I even sat down to watch it I had my head filled with all sorts of preconceptions that it could be a complete and utter waste of time (think Lord of the Rings, which regardless of how nerdy you think are, is a pile of feces) and I was really praying that it would live up to some of my better expectations.

To my complete delight, TBtT is one of those films that really makes you think about things in your life (think Click or Stranger than Fiction, both excellent films), and the sort of changes you need to make.

The film is exceptionally well acted, and the amount of chemistry between the movie’s main characters is amazing (not romantic chemistry you perverts, these are pre-teens for God sake!) and genuinely believable. The only thing I can compare TBtT to would be a cross between Holes (another disney film) and My Girl. The day to day trials and tribulations of our heros really makes you want to sit down and ask your kid how they’re doing.

The use of special effects are very well done when they’re used, but thankfully you aren’t overwhelmed with a ton of crap that’s supposed to make you think you’re in some parallel universe where everyone owns a tie fighter or a dragon or something.

The mix of reality and imagination (reminded me a lot of me a lot of Page Master or even The Never Ending Story but not nearly as excessive) gives the impression that the children really yearned for something more than their droll day to day existences.

I really enjoyed this film, probably to the point where I’ll be purchasing it when I can find a copy on Blu-Ray. If you have children, this is a wonderful fantasy adventure for you to sit down and watch with them. Definitely fun for all age ranges.

Run down to blockbuster or add this puppy to your netflix queue (I actually had this in my blockbuster total access queue but it said there was a short wait, whereas I was able to find it for a dollar from one of the vending machines in Safeway) as a high priority. This is a film that everyone will enjoy, and everyone should see. While I’m not saying this film is as good as the book, I do think that it works extremely well on the big screen.

Do yourself a favor and keep your mind wide open!

Update! – It turns out that my wife not only knows the location to my blog, but actually reads it.. Because of this I felt obligated (forcefully so) to inform my readers that it was in fact my wife who went to Safeway to pay a dollar for this rental. Apologies go out to anybody who thought I was unlazy enough to leave the house.

Update 2! – To further clarify the above update, she went to rent it ‘without my knowledge.’ However, to be fair to myself I did have it in my total access queue (and I added it myself, from the safety of my laptop.)