Four Kids and It

Having seen the 1990s series I was aware of the basic storyline. Clearly the book is a classic but unfortunately this is let down in a number of ways.

The special effects to start with are terrible. The Pssammead is first introduced as it tunnels under the sand (think Tremors) and it looks awful. Later the children fly and it was very 1970s green-screenesque.

Then there's the acting. Michael Caine cannot do much wrong as a voice actor and Russell Brand is ok, the rest are terrible. It sounds awful to say about child actors but for a feature film it really wasn't great.

I don't know what the budget was, but I suspect after Caine and Brand there was nothing left.

The movie had a good story to it, seemed cute, but I couldn't even make it to the end of it with one of the characters being such a despicable out of control character. And the mother of, "Smash" AKA Samantha had no motherly morals at all. Just because she was a single mother, doesn't mean her children needed to be such pricks. Couldn't Even make it to end of it

The family were all looking forward to watching this whilst in lockdown. The first 20 minutes were just dreadful and our kids, aged 14 and 12, and my wife all agreed to give up on it. Maybe it gets better, but to us, the first 20 minutes represented everything that's wrong with parenting and filmmaking.

This movie is a flat adaptation wasting a great opportunity that the underlying story could have provided. It is presented without any real magic, chemistry between the characters or any sense of tension. What should be a warm, humorous family movie just comes across as cold, unfunny and cliched. Michael Caine's voice work is a highlight but his appearances are too brief. Russell Brand in contrast appears completely miscast in his role. Maybe young kids will love it, but in my eyes it doesn't have enough depth to work as film to be enjoyed by all the family.

This is the biggest piece of rubbish I've seen, you've spoilt a classic with this half baked and lame rip off, what can you expect from such a poor author.