Brendon Jones
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Bessie Smyth
Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Darin
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
riyalight
Although the plot was all too familiar, The take on the old plot was masterful.The puppets were incredible and the voices really matched each character nicely.Even though the puppets showed no animatronic expressions, the emotions were clearly transferable.It was a sweet movie with well thought out dynamics and great set ingenuity.though it is slow at first, it is worth watching through. There were plenty of action sequences, but primarily heartfelt moments in the lives of the puppets.This would be a great classroom watch or a soothing family movie night
gavin6942
The king commits suicide, but his evil brother covers it up to make the death look like murder from a rival faction. The prince disguises himself as a slave to go out and avenge his father's death, but after infiltrating the "enemy" camp, begins to learn an alternate history of his people -- sometimes the good guys have a dark past.This film was incredible. You very rarely see a film with puppets in it these days (or ever, really). Sure, there was "Team America", but I really found the puppeteering on that to be average and the overall film to be a waste of time. This one had a rich back story, characters with epic lives and a whole realm of fantasy that could have been real life.I think of the movie like "The Dark Crystal". I don't know why, but I get a similar vibe from them. With one key difference: I don't like "The Dark Crystal". Other films could be compared to this, I suppose: "Lord of the Rings" to some extent, maybe "Willow", probably a hundred more. It had all the classic fantasy elements: a hero, a kingdom, love, betrayal, evil, an oracle, battles. Everything you'd want.There was an underlying political message here, too, which I enjoyed although I don't know if I really got the exact parallel they were shooting for. But the idea that "we" are always the goo guys and "they" are always the bad guys when not viewed as people was very nice, and could be used to talk about America and the Middle East (or the Native Americans), it could be used to talk about Israel and Palestine, or just about any other rival groups.The love aspects were a bit much at times. I liked the idea that our strings are all attached and that love really makes that stronger. I tend to agree with the sentiment. At times I think it bordered on hippie or New Age levels (my ability to digest peace and love only goes so far). But, it was never so much I became uninterested in the film.If you want something different than your usual action or romance, give this one a chance. You might have to open your mind a little bit because it's fantasy and puppets and voice-overs (not just because they're puppets, they're also Scandinavian). I think you'll find a special treat in here. Really glad I had the opportunity to catch it at a friend's house, as I probably never would have found it on my own.
Jorge TC
It is a very interesting movie ultimately for the way it was shot and produced. It has a short, simple and quite obvious plot, still all its elements combined with the intelligent way the puppets are used make it very touching and UNIQUE. The way the film deals with the strings of each puppet, how it gives life to each character you can tell they worried about certain details that makes this movie special. On the other hand, at certain times, it can have a slow pace which will almost bore you and some characters are not consistent and others are unnecessary.All in all it's a good escape from the crash boom slam we're used by Hollywood industry, still I'd say the story needs a bit of a spice.
sarastro7
I hadn't heard anything about this (Danish!) movie until a friend brought over a DVD he'd ordered from Thailand, of all places! (Available from www.ethaicd.com.) Four of us watched it and agreed that it was interesting, unique and original, but also rather dull. The story is a stereotypical (but very decent) fantasy fairy-tale, with the very interesting added element of the "stringed puppet reality". It worked very well, with a quite serious and emotional story a bit reminiscent of Gormenghast - all immensely well produced. But it wasn't engaging enough to maintain that much enthusiasm in the viewer. It was a bit too dark to be for children, and somewhat too, I dunno, uninvolving to be for grown-ups. I appreciate it as an honest, very competently produced fantasy movie with a detailed and good-looking but also quite crude and limited universe.I do think it would be more engaging on the big screen than on a TV screen, because I was slightly bored through much of it. Granted, I was a bit tired when we watched it, and this is not a movie one should watch while tired. But it was a very interesting experience.7 out of 10.