XoWizIama Excellent adaptation.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Kirpianuscus dark, intense. and... amusing. a different story but so well known. remembering values and the atmosphere of old German fairy tales. and something else. a form of innocence who seems be far by us. it is strange to analyze it. because it is just a complete story in which the Death has a surprising role, in which the Evil has a different status and friendship becomes, again, the source of force against dark challenges. so, a nice film. dark, intense. and...amusing. maybe, perfect for adults. for to escape from the classic formulas of a great holiday.

G Rose A slightly more recent review. I watched this based on a still image I saw of one of the ending scenes, and the words- 'You're saying humans need...fantasies to make life bearable.' That scene is really the backbone of this plot, and the brief moments of sobering, heartfelt dialogue amongst the humour and fun are really perfect. The set, and actors are completely full of life, and perfect for this.The author was very involved in the making of this (and there are even fun little videos of him in the extras), which I think is one of the reasons it exceeds expectations. I've never read any Pratchett, but this adaptation made me think I probably should. If you get a chance to watch this- and you are a fan of similar Christmas & magic themed films such as Arthur Christmas, and Rise of the Guardians (which has a similar tooth fairy angle), or just fancy a fun Christmassy romp with a smart undercurrent and heart, then you will be very happy with this.

paulouscan I thought this was a movie with an imaginative scenario, sophisticated and exciting. User reviews were generally laudatory. But I found this a disappointment as the script is disjointed, constantly jumping non- sequitur, building unrelated pieces, giving out a product not very nice or even pushing asleep. So the characters lack of consistency, follow-up. From time to time, some scenes make you laugh, but it is a story modelled on a Christmas story left out of an unattractive taste and especially without head or tail. It's a shame, but it seemed a waste of time. It seems like you could endlessly write such story without going anywhere and it is far from a real fairy tale which would make you dream or something. I would not recommend it as there are much more interesting tales for children than this.

fwomp Part of the difficulties with translating a book to film is losing much of what the author tries to convey. Books allow the writer to squeeze in much more character information and wit, while films must do so in (usually) under two hours. Thankfully this duology expands that time line a tad to a much needed three hours and nine minutes. I say much needed because author Terry Pratchett's books deserve the full treatment in terms of time. But, unfortunately, even with this extended amount, the story suffers in translation. Although I must give credit to direct Vadim Jean (who also did the screenplay adaption and continues to adapt Mr. Pratchett's excellent Discworld series), it's tough to give a ravingly positive review to something that I enjoyed only marginally as much as the written works.I remember sitting in a restaurant on a meal break one day and having portions of a ham sandwich fly from my nose while reading Hogfather. Death (in the film voiced very well by Ian Richardson, BECOMING JANE) is a central character, and both the book and the movie keep it that way. But what is lost is the clever witticisms of the narrator (Pratchett) that often causes the reader to nearly choke with restrained laughter while trying to keep from puking or inhaling food particles. It was, however, pretty funny to see Death cloaked in Santa (i.e., Hogfather) garb while mushing a sleigh towed by heavily-tusked boars.Marc Warren (WANTED) as Mr. Teatime was a good choice, as he had just the right amount of ruthlessness (which was plenty) and naiveté (toward his fellow Discworld inhabitants) to make him a fearfully funny antagonist.However, from here things get off-track. Michelle Dockery plays Susan, the main protagonist, but is mostly lost amidst the larger story. Her part was vital in the novel, but here we simply don't see that much of her in terms of character development. Beating up monsters under the bed? Funny, yes. Trying to protect her scythe-wielding relative? Okay, pretty funny. But what of the rest of her development? In truth, there isn't any in the film. She simply rushes off to help save Hogswatch Eve without much knowledge as to why she's so gung-ho to do it.The remaining characters are also given excessively abbreviated versions, which made the entire film much less laughable. Indeed, I think I only chuckled a few times during the entire three-plus hours, showing just how much was lost in translation.I will say, again, that I don't blame writer/director Vadim Jean for this. Without a doubt, this is a tough sell. How can you make something so densely funny as one of Mr. Pratchett's wonderful Discworld books into a guffaw-riddled flick? I think the simple answer is that you can't. And I think this adaptation proves it. But I will give Mr. Jean credit for trying. He succeeded on a very small level but I fear those that haven't read the novels might be less-than-impressed.Sorry guys.