My Take: A family-friendly adventure that starts to falter midway and on.
NIM'S ISLAND started out so well; I really thought I was in for a real treat. In the midst of family movies that try to hard to throw in a lot of potty humor and slapsticks, here's a family movie that will enthrall the kids and constantly remind adults of that sense of adventure. Here's a story of a little girl (Abigail Breslin, a long way from the "Little Miss Sunshine" pageant) who lives with her dad on an uncharted island, makes friends with its inhabitant animals, and go into all sorts of adventure with her caring yet similarly adventurous father (and for the ladies, her father happens to be Gerard Butler).
NIM'S ISLAND is like a hybrid of SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, KITT KITTREDGE (because of Breslin's spunk) and HOME ALONE. Breslin's Nim also loves to read adventure novels, namely those starring her favorite hero Alex Rover (his Indy Jones-like imaginary representation also played by Butler). But when her father goes away and is left alone in the island to defend it from nosy tourists who want to make it a resort. Desperate for help, Nim seeks help from Alex Rover, thinking her dashing hero would arrive and turn her life around and save the island. But actually, her Alex Rover is actually Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster), a writer from San Francisco who's even afraid to go outside her own house. But when HOME ALONE half of the story takes over, with Nim saving the island from tourist by catapulting lizards and faking a volcano eruption, the magic sadly isn't there anymore. In place of it are some of the usual: silly slapsticks and some tacky special effects.
What was promised in the first half of NIM'S ISLAND was really something; a family movie that could have been a real treat for everyone. There should be more scenes with Nim's father. There should be more scenes where Nim discovers that her Alex Rover, the adventurer, is actually Alexandra, a writer lacking every spunk of the adventurer she writes about. Instead, most of that is pushed to the end to accommodate more scenes of Foster having some trouble with the locals (it starts out curiously funny, but slowly tired and one-note). The HOME ALONE-like slapsticks were gratuitous and whatever creativity was set up during the first act is just gone. Although the first half has its charms, Breslin gives an appealing and spunky performance and the island itself is gorgeous; at least the titular island itself is worth visiting numerous times. Rent it or wait for it on TV; it might make a lasting baby-sitter for the younger set.
Rating: **1/2 out of 5.
NIM'S ISLAND started out so well; I really thought I was in for a real treat. In the midst of family movies that try to hard to throw in a lot of potty humor and slapsticks, here's a family movie that will enthrall the kids and constantly remind adults of that sense of adventure. Here's a story of a little girl (Abigail Breslin, a long way from the "Little Miss Sunshine" pageant) who lives with her dad on an uncharted island, makes friends with its inhabitant animals, and go into all sorts of adventure with her caring yet similarly adventurous father (and for the ladies, her father happens to be Gerard Butler).
NIM'S ISLAND is like a hybrid of SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, KITT KITTREDGE (because of Breslin's spunk) and HOME ALONE. Breslin's Nim also loves to read adventure novels, namely those starring her favorite hero Alex Rover (his Indy Jones-like imaginary representation also played by Butler). But when her father goes away and is left alone in the island to defend it from nosy tourists who want to make it a resort. Desperate for help, Nim seeks help from Alex Rover, thinking her dashing hero would arrive and turn her life around and save the island. But actually, her Alex Rover is actually Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster), a writer from San Francisco who's even afraid to go outside her own house. But when HOME ALONE half of the story takes over, with Nim saving the island from tourist by catapulting lizards and faking a volcano eruption, the magic sadly isn't there anymore. In place of it are some of the usual: silly slapsticks and some tacky special effects.
What was promised in the first half of NIM'S ISLAND was really something; a family movie that could have been a real treat for everyone. There should be more scenes with Nim's father. There should be more scenes where Nim discovers that her Alex Rover, the adventurer, is actually Alexandra, a writer lacking every spunk of the adventurer she writes about. Instead, most of that is pushed to the end to accommodate more scenes of Foster having some trouble with the locals (it starts out curiously funny, but slowly tired and one-note). The HOME ALONE-like slapsticks were gratuitous and whatever creativity was set up during the first act is just gone. Although the first half has its charms, Breslin gives an appealing and spunky performance and the island itself is gorgeous; at least the titular island itself is worth visiting numerous times. Rent it or wait for it on TV; it might make a lasting baby-sitter for the younger set.
Rating: **1/2 out of 5.