Arthur (Highmore) lives on an isolated New England farm with his grandmother (Farrow). Grandfather (Crawford) has been missing for three years, and they really need him, and his hidden treasure, since a businessman (LeFevre) is about to take the farm. So Arthur follows Grandfather's trail to the world of the ant-sized Minimoys who live under the grass. There, Arthur joins with the arrogant Princess Selenia (voiced by Madonna) and her enthusiastic brother Betameche (Fallon) to find Grandfather and help the King (De Niro) survive an insidious attack from the villainous Maltazard (Bowie).

Children will love the concept of this nearby micro-universe, which Besson brings to life with an astounding visual style that combines motion-capture, miniatures and beautifully textured animation. And the live-action sequences also look great, with a magical recreation of 1960 America and slightly over-emotional performances. But this goes on too long, with far too much complicated plot information.

In the animated half of the film, the visuals are so superbly detailed that we really want to have a look at them, but the "camera" never stops moving. We can't quite get a sense of the settings or the action sequences, and then there's even more expository dialog. This is especially frustrating since the character animation and much of the voice work is so strong--we would like to get involved with these adventures, but it's far too fragmented.

Several parts of the narrative don't gel, feeling designed simply to look cool or sound funny, rather than to propel the story or give a sense of character. And many elements are borrowed from other mythologies, such as a sword inexplicably stuck in a stone. This is a surprising misfire from Besson, who has clearly invested time and a lot of gifted crew members in this project. But the film is so messily constructed that we can never just sit back and enjoy it.

themes, violence

10.Dec.06