Inkheart

Inkheart

My Angle: My love of literature was the starting place. As a Preacher of God’s Word I considered the exploration of the power of words a worthwhile subject.

Kid Friendly: I would say yes for over 9 years old. Some of the villains are just a little too much. One in particular likes to slash his victims with a knife and the big villain at the end is a little too nightmarish.

Spiritual Issues: What we speak does have power. Our language affects our lives and the lives of others. “It is not what goes into a man that corrupts him but what comes out…”

I have not read the books by Cornelia Funke (Trilogy that begins with Inkheart) so I cannot confirm how the book is in relation to the movie. The movie however fails to live up to its own expectations. We start out with a very powerful scene that introduces us to the “Silver Tongue” a character whose spoken, read word becomes reality. This concept is powerfully reminiscent of the Creation story, but the movie fails to consistently develop the theme and its inconsistencies become a distraction by the end of the movie.

I suspect most “tweens” who watch this movie won’t even notice.

Another important issue is that in the end the villains are completely and totally destroyed. This is an important part of the old Fairy Tale model. Children are comforted in stories where evil is utterly and totally destroyed. Modern sensibilities are often surprised by the scary elements of Grimm’s Fairy Tales for example but these tales do two things for children: they admit the reality of evil and they comfort by showing evil being overcome.


2 of 5 stars.

Bill Crawford