Movies in the Fantasy genre

With its derivative story elements, epic scope, and straightforward action orientation, John Carter is a throwback to a simpler time when it was enough to have a heroic protagonist face off against all manner of monsters and bad guys. The special e...

John Dies at the End is problematical. It's an attempt by director Don Coscarelli to adapt a book that has a fanatical following but has often been described as "unfilmable." The end result has garnered mixed reactions from those who love David Won...

Regardless of the genre, there’s an art to making a successful family feature. It involves crafting a storyline that’s straightforward enough to engage younger viewers yet sufficiently sophisticated that it keeps the attention of the paren...

Kiki’s Delivery Service is arguably among the “lesser” films of Hayao Miyazaki. Although considerably more arresting that the average animated kids’ movie, Kiki’s Delivery Service isn’t on the same level as My Neighbor Totoro, Cast...

The most important name associated with this new telling of the tale of King Arthur is “Guy Ritchie.” More than most working directors, Ritchie comes to projects with his own specific take on them – one that inevitably rubs some viewers ...

Calling a movie a “fairy tale” and having Julie Andrews provide “Once Upon a Time…” bookend narration are not sufficient reasons to abandon things like intelligent plotting and compelling character development. For years, various Disney ...

As a big-budget B-grade monster movie, Kong: Skull Island is a home run. It offers all the tropes and clichés one expects from this sort of endeavor, sparing no expense when it comes to special effects. As a King Kong movie, however, Skull Island is...

Fantasy in the 1980s had a “cutesy” problem. Setting aside the deliciously bloody Schwarzenegger Conan the Barbarian, the field was littered with productions steeped in the belief that fantasy=children’s fare. Whether it was Disney’s b...

When you consider a modern day fairy tale, no matter how twisted, ideal descriptions include "enchanting," "engaging," and "magical." They do not include "silly," "ridiculous," and "laughable." Unfortunately, in the case of Lady in the Water, the...

Although this may amount to oversimplification, Alejandro Agresti's The Lake House is essentially a romance between two people connected by a time-traveling mailbox. As premises go, this has the virtue of uniqueness - Hollywood doesn't churn out t...