AniInterview
Sorry, this movie sucks
AshUnow
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Logan
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Jackson Booth-Millard
It questionable why it took a long time for a live action version of the classic E.B. White story to be made, because the only version you may know is the Debbie Reynolds/Hanna-Barbera 1973 cartoon, but they did. So you know the story, Wilbur the Pig (Dominic Scott Kay) is born a runt, and little girl Fern (War of the Worlds' Dakota Fanning) saves him from the chop. Then when he's big enough he is taken to the farm across the road belonging to Fern's uncle Homer Zuckerman (Gary Basaraba) to live in a large barn with a bunch of other animals. There is Samuel the Sheep (John Cleese), Gussy (Oprah Winfrey) and Golly (Cedric the Entertainer) the Geese, Bitsy (Kathy Bates) and Betsy (Reba McEntire) the Cows, Ike the Horse (Robert Redford) and Templeton the Rat (Steve Buscemi). As time goes by he still isn't aware that being a spring pig has certain consequences, but he has his new friend Charlotte the Spider (Julia Roberts) to distract him until this is found out. Of course when he does find out that he is going to be urned into bacon, sausage or chops, Charlotte makes him a promise that she will help save his life. So she comes up with a plan to spin her web to read the words "SOME PIG", and the gullible humans will believe it is a miracle. As time goes by, the words "TERRIFIC" and "RADIANT" also get spun into Charlotte's web, and Mr. Zuckerman gets a leaflet in the post for the county fair, and he is convinced Wilbur could win first prize. Charlotte initially doesn't want to leave the barn because she is expecting, and Templeton with his words duty isn't interested, but Charlotte doesn't want to miss Wilbur's big moment, and Templeton has all the fair food to guzzle. It looks like Wilbut has lost first place to the pig next door, but the head of the fair takes him to the stage, not long after the word "HUMBLE" appeared in the web, to receive an honorary medal. This has confirmed that Wilbur will stay alive the rest of his natural life, but Charlotte is dying after finishing her nest sack for her 514 baby spiders. Wilbur returns to Zuckerman's barn with Charlotte's babies safe and sound, and they hatch in the spring, with all but three flying away, to live happily ever after. Also starring Sam Shepard as Narrator, Thomas Haden Church as Brooks the Crow, Julian O'Donnell as Henry Fussy, Men in Black's Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Mrs. Zuckerman and Beau Bridges as Dr. Dorian. The voices do pretty good, I suppose Fanning is more bearable than her other films, and the Babe style animation does reasonably well accompanied by the CGI needed fro Charlotte. It isn't an improvement on the cartoon, it is pretty much the same kind of standard, but it is a likable part-animated fantasy comedy drama film for all the family. Worth watching!
jmschau
I tend to be overly critical of movies, but this is the rare film that, even a week later, I still can't think of one nit to pick. Well, maybe one. All the voices of the many animals had character except one - the spider, voiced by Julia Roberts. Her voice lacked the interest that the others did. But that was minor. The little girl was a doll and the adults were not portrayed as dolts, which is a refreshing change. It's not a great movie in the context of film history, but I'm giving it a 10 because if you're looking for a kids movie, they don't get much better.You may ignore the rest of this summary because I've been confounded by the system that requires I type at least 10 lines. I guess the system does not hold brevity dear. I'll submit it again. Hope I've rambled on long enough.
draiochtfilms
For anyone who's read the book or seen the original animated version, this film will be a big disappointment. Unlike other reviewers, I thought the script was filled lines that were trying to be sarcastic like a TV sitcom. Even the performances of veteran actors such as John Cleese couldn't save the dialogue. Templeton and Wilbur were the best characters, but Julia Roberts' Charlotte was extremely flat an unappealing. I would have preferred if she had tried to find her own voice instead of trying to mimic the original film. Dakota Fanning was adorable and terribly underused. There was no relationship between she and Wilbur after the webs appeared. She simply became background. The worst thing about the film was the overall message. Even my 7 year old said "Gee, I guess if you can't get a medal on that farm you just get eaten.". Yep. That's pretty much it. Outside of the lovely animation, I was terribly disappointed. And so was my family. Give this one a miss and rent the original instead. Or better yet... read the book.
Diane Redman
I rented this movie last night and just finished watching it. It was excellent in every way it was done. I also own the cartoon version and love that one too. Eventually I will buy this version on DVD and watch it pretty often. Some movies that I have seen that has been done from a cartoon version are not all that great but this one was and I really enjoyed it from beginning to end. I definitely recommend this movie to anyone; and not just kids either. Just like the cartoon version, I laughed and I cried at the same exact parts with some differences between the two but other than that; I really loved this movie and look forward to owning it soon on DVD to watch all over again.
