Charlotte's Web Reviews

In my opinion, the problem with such flicks is how much slack should you give to a movie because it is a family feature? I mean, my 6 years old daughter seemed to enjoy it but does it mean it was actually any good? I don’t know, personally, I really had a hard time to care about the whole thing. Apparently, it is an adaptation of a very famous children book but I’m not familiar with this book, to be honest. I seriously hope that the book has a better storyline because I thought the plot was pretty inane. The fact that I always had a hard time with taking animals didn't help either, I'm afraid. I mean, make a movie with human-beings, make a movie about animals but don’t make a movie about animals acting like human beings, please! Furthermore, they made a big deal of the fact that Dakota Fanning (still playing young girls back then) was in it but she hardly does anything during the whole thing. The main characters were therefore the animals with a star cast for the dubbing (Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Cedric the Entertainer, Kathy Bates, Robert, Thomas Haden Church, André Benjamin). It is really something of our time to have such big stars coming along just to give a voice-over for a spider, a horse or whatever. I’m probably just too cynical for this kind of features but a while back, they made a movie called ‘Babe’, it was nothing amazing but it was still a decent family feature, and this movie was just way too similar, only more boring and less interesting. To conclude, even though it is nothing awful whatsoever, it remains a rather average family flick and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you have to entertain some very young children.

I am in awe of what I saw in this movie. By now everyone has probably seen the cartoon version of Charlotte's Web a few times. I read a couple of reviews that rated this movie very highly. I went into it with high expectations and wasn't let down. This movie is destined to be a timeless classic.

The CGI technology has advanced so far and it continues to amaze me with what I see on the big screen. While watching this movie you will believe that the animals have come alive and are living creatures that we can communicate with. The voice actors were excellent and made the characters that much more real. Another gem in this movie is Dakota Fanning. I swear the girl is really about 30 years old and her body never grew up. She is the perfect actor for Fern and really carries the movie for the human side of the movie.

This version of Charlotte's Web follows the story in the book very closely. From the saving of Wilbur to the hatching of Charlotte's children you won't miss a thing. It will make you laugh at Wilbur's adventures and want to cry when Charlotte is at the fair. I was in a theater with some young children around me and they all had a blast giggling away at the movie. My kids of course said, "Dad can we buy this when it comes out on DVD?" My answer was, "Of course!"

Even if you have seen the cartoon version and are skeptical of seeing this remake, don't be. This movie should be seen by every family member. It will be a movie that you will want to add to your collection and watch more than once.

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