Well, this film is draggy, trite and all around cloying, but that's mostly because of storytelling, because in concept, this story, while minimalist something fierce, offers worthy coming-of-age subject matter that combines wonderment with grounded themes on friendship and bringing oneself to reality.

Jessica Grose of The Village Voice commended director Csupó for omitting "cutesy tween stereotypes", and felt Jess's relationship with his father elevated Bridge to Terabithia from "a good kids movie to a classic contender. He rides the bus to school with his younger sister, May Belle, where he avoids the school bully, Janice Avery. Robb's character Leslie claims it's "a place just for them, where there are no Janice Avery's or Scott Hoager's (local bullies). It's debatable whether or not filler holds substance, as most beats in this story reinforce coming-of-age thematic depths, but they're ultimately too repetitious to be all that engaging, and some serious incoherencies to a near-unstructured plot body are by no means helpful. Paterson, an alumnus of the Catholic University of America, held a special advance screening of the film for members of the CUA community at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland on February 1, 2007.Don't show them this movie expecting the next Narnia, there is something much more dramatic in this movie, but I didn't like how Disney was advertising this as a sweet fantasy, when its not really. From what I had seen in the trailers, I thought the movie would be about two kids that end up in some magical world, similar to the Chronicles of Narnia (clearly, I did not read the book). Robb also conversed with producer Lauren Levine before casting even began, and "their conversation convinced her that, without a doubt, AnnaSophia was meant for this role". The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Reception [ edit ] Critical reception [ edit ] AnnaSophia Robb's portrayal of Leslie Burke was highly praised; one critic enjoyed her "engaging" performance", and thought "only the story's vibrant young heroine [.

I understand that this is for the very young, and it's not like a sense of wonderment and dramatic depth aren't captured relatively well at times, but on the whole, what could have and should have been a more genuine and tastefully done fantasy drama with both depth and style proves to be generally obnoxious and distancing, with overbearing sentimentality that don't so much reflect ambition, as much as they reflect that classic Disney laziness. Csupó chose to have Weta Digital render the 3D animation because he "was impressed with their artistic integrity, the teamwork, the [fact that] people were really nice, and also they responded to our designs very positively". Cameron Wakefield as Scott Hoager, one of Jess's bullies who serves as the inspiration to the squirrel-like Squogres. Music from and Inspired by Bridge to Terabithia is the soundtrack album to the film, released by Hollywood Records on February 13, 2007.Shoot, maybe I'm just worried because you know that a coming-of-age drama with prominent fantasy elements is just begging to be cheesed up by the usual subtlety issues of Neal Morse-I mean, Disney (I've got Transatlantic stuck in my head, so after this review, I might need to go take, oh, say, an hour or so to listen to one of their songs). Read more about the condition New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. You folks probably have no idea what I was referencing, because it's hard to promote talent in the modern music industry, but make no mistake, I did just effectively butcher one of Transatlantic's less cheesily written ballads. AnnaSophia Robb was nominated for a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for "Best Young Actress".

Puig found the real-life portions of the movie were "derivative and simplistic", but found Jess's emotional tumult felt "powerfully authentic, and this is where the film finds its truth and soul". Csupó noted that the two main characters are a little bit older in the film than they are in the book. At school, Leslie discovers from Janice that her bullying is due to her abusive father, and the two become friends, with Janice later befriending Jess as well. T. to Terabithia, where they fight off the Dark Master's creatures resembling their bullies, this time with the troll as their ally.Weta visual effects supervisor Matt Aitken explained that process involved in interpreting the creatures was "split into two steps".

It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its visuals, cast performances, and faithfulness to the source material. As I just finished saying, there's potential to this story concept, but it's limited, offering a paper-thin conflict, and even little plays on the fantasy elements, until what you end up with is a fantasy flick and character drama that is lacking in flare, whose limitations could be easier to ignore if the execution wasn't so draggy. Jess says Leslie is gone forever, but his father tells him she will never be as long as he keeps her memory alive. Jess feels overwhelming guilt for Leslie's death, lashing out at both Hoager and May Belle and imagining the Dark Master from Terabithia chasing after him before breaking down into tears, but his father comforts and consoles him. Jess becomes angry with his father for his attitude toward him, and he loses his belief in Terabithia, refusing its existence the next day at school.Josh Hutcherson was not their first choice for the role of Jesse Aarons, but they settled with him because they "felt the chemistry between AnnaSophia Robb and him". The film is certainly not that long, but then again, the narrative concept is hardly meat enough to sustain a 95-minute runtime, which is achieved largely through unfocused meanderings in material and an excess filler, neither of which blend together as comfortably as they should. A preteen's life turns upside down when he befriends the new girl in school and they imagine a whole new fantasy world to escape reality. Leslie's costumes in the film were designed to look as if the character "might have made some of them herself", and they were updated from those described in the book to reflect what would currently be considered eccentric. Miriam di Nunzio of the Chicago Sun-Times praised Hutcherson and Robb's performances, saying that "the film's heart and soul rests on the abilities of its young lead characters to make us really see the world through children's eyes.