Based on Katherine Patterson's beautiful book, Bridge to Terabithia is a beautiful, charming and touching fantasy film, that serves as an emotionally rich testament to the life-changing power of friendship. The film does start off a little slow, as the two protagonists at first interact quite awkwardly, but fifteen minutes in the pacing picked up. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the film went. The story is quite simple, as Jess and Leslie encounter mundane daily experiences and become inseparable as a result by their alienation and creativity, but it is an effective one and respects reasonably the story of the book. Also the script ensures that the characters are believable; Jess and Leslie certainly are believable as characters, and Gabor Csupo, who also directed the surprisingly good and underrated Secret of Moonacre, tackles the issues explored in the film with wit and sensitivity.

Visually and technically, I couldn't fault Bridge to Terabithia. Moonacre is a little better in the costume and sets department but Terabithia succeeds much better in the depth and character departments. Here the cinematography is fluid, the scenery is stunning and the costumes are very nice. Terabithia itself is like a homage to CS Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and is very attractive, the final shot of the film was like looking at a painting and the creatures while you don't see much of them are pretty much fantastical. The music score I have to say was beautiful, with a soaring main theme and some other pretty tunes to add to the film's charm.

And of course the performances are wonderful. Josh Hutcherson is absolutely brilliant as Jess, he was truly believable and his acting in the final segment was close to heart breaking. AnnaSophia Robb is enchanting as Leslie, she looked lovely and acted with a lot of heart. Her character's death people complained of bringing down the film. I had no problem with it, while it was deeply affecting the way the actors and director brought it across gave the scene itself and the scenes afterwards a real sense of poignancy. Is it just me though, or don't Hutcherson and Robb have great chemistry together? I think so, their chemistry for me was what made the film so charming. The lovely Zooey Deschannel isn't given as much to do, but she has a relevant role to the film which she delivers with a sensitivity and luminosity that I never knew she had. And Robert Patrick is a great actor, and gives another great performance as the gruff and no nonsense father. Plus Bailie Maddison is really cute as Jess's sister.

Overall, a really good film. Shame the advertising was so misleading. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Watching BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, I'm reminded once again why I avoid American kid's films as a whole: they're far too twee and sentimental, heavy-handed when it comes to the moralising, and most American child actors are intensely annoying. At least the '80s wave of 'kid gang' films like STAND BY ME, THE GOONIES, and THE MONSTER SQUAD avoided all that and featured endearing and realistic children.

Sadly, BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA is a rather dull effort about a couple of self-centred children who enter a world of imagination populated by giant creatures and woodland spirits. Of course, all of this is an aid to escape the confines of everyday life, populated by the usual uncaring parents and school bullies.

The film is saddled with the sullen-looking Josh Hutcherson (THE HUNGER GAMES) as the lead, and he's one of those people with a face you'd like to slap. Still, Anna Sophia Robb is better, although the film is saddled with an oh-so-kooky turn from the irritating Zooey Deschanel in support. Watch out for Robert Patrick, playing Hutcherson's father. The CGI effects in this film are weird and quite poor, and for large sections I was uninterested in what was taking place on screen, although there is an unexpected and rather good plot twist that stops it from being one of the worst.

Jesse Aarons (Josh Hutcherson) is picked on at school, and is forced to wear his sister's hand-me-down sneakers. His father (Robert Patrick) is a poor farmer. Leslie Burke (AnnaSophia Robb) is new in school. Jesse strives to be the fastest runner but then he gets beat by the new girl. It turns out that she's their neighbor. She is an imaginative writer and he's constantly drawing in his book. He's infatuated with the music teacher Ms. Edmunds (Zooey Deschanel). At first, he doesn't like the new girl but he finds her to be a fellow traveler bullied by the other kids. Together, they find a worn out rope swing. They create the imaginary fantasy land of Terabithia just across the creek.

There is a big twist in the movie that turns this into something more than a run-of-the-mill kids movie. It's a fine kids movie for most of the film with great performances from Hutcherson and especially Robb. It's not too sugary. The characters have great personalities and good emotions. It's not the first time that this twist happened in a family movie. It is a big surprise when it happens because it's not really hinted at. This one is done well.