Casper et Wendy

I rented this for my four-year-old son from our local public library. As the third Casper film, and a direct-to-video release (the only advertising I remember was on cereal boxes), I wasn't expecting much from this little venture, but I was delightfully surprised. I actually sat and watched the whole thing, and the climax is quite suspenseful. A great cast, some witty writing, and fine performances by George Hamilton as the villainous arch-warlock Desmond Spellman (am I the only one who thinks this is a dig at Aaron Spelling?), Richard Moll, Vincent Schiavelli—and the three adult witches, Shelly Duval, Teri Garr and Cathy Moriarty. The CGI ghosts are well done.

But the biggest surprise of all is Hilary Duff's sparkling performance as Wendy. Based on all the ditzy teen idol crap she did later-- rolling her eyes and huffing every thirty seconds as "Lizzy McGuire" and singing those plastic pop tunes--I expected her to just float around on her broom and look cute. But this is the best acting I've ever seen her do. I can hardly believe it's the same person. She's a delightful little bundle of energy, delivers her lines intelligently, and really works her little duff off (sorry, couldn't resist that). It's a shame her career took such an airhead direction. This video shows she was capable of better things, but she's already being forgotten.

One caution: The ending, with the swirling "Mystic Abyss", when it seems like Wendy might actually be a gonner, as well as the "possession" scenes might be a little too much for some preschoolers.

Being an author, director and screenwriter myself I can't just watch a movie without automatically looking for flaws in them. If there's a hole in it I'll most likely find it. I read novels and screenplays over and over again then study the movies along with the scripts to see what is right and what's not. How the target audience reacts to movies is also important in my business. I would be happy to have Hillary Duff star in one of my screenplays. She's the right age, has the right look and the talent to star in the series I'm working on now.

I had a fun time reading all the reviews for this movie. I can't help but wonder why adults who hated this movie would bother to set through it let alone write lengthy reviews using highly colorful & hateful terms. If you don't like kiddy movies don't watch them. Intelligent people wouldn't set through something they hated with a passion unless they were deliberately trying to find fault with it or the staring actors.

Hillary Duff gets "hate" messages from people who are jealous of her all the time. In fact she gets so much of it she's stopped communicating with most of her fans because of it. It doesn't help anyone, not her, not her fans, not the people who hate her either. It just puts more distance between the fans and the actors/actresses and that's completely uncalled for. Either you like the movie or the actors or you don't. I have a list I don't care much for either but I'm not going to waste my time using colorful metaphors talking about them.

Hillary is one of the sweetest kids you will ever see. She's cute, honest, and when she smiles her entire face glows. My daughter Kristy (15)was watching the Lizzy McGuire movie and said she would like to meet Hillary because she thought that she would be a nice person. I would love for her to have the opportunity to meet Hillary and her mother.

Hillary was literally thrown into the acting business after doing a commercial or two. Before that she sang and danced. She was in fact very inexperienced when she did Casper Meets Wendy. If you understand the circumstances you should realize that with no more experience than she had at that time she did a fantastic job in this movie. The KIDS loved her!

Casper Meets Wendy isn't a typical Casper movie. The first Casper movie was by far more aimed at the general audience. Overall it was the best of all three for adults and young people alike. A Spirited Beginning was aimed more for the children and Casper Meets Wendy was aimed for the younger children. Of course it was also intended to have a simple plot that anyone could understand including little children. It's a feel good movie. It is not a horror story about a scary ghost or witch. It's for the young and young at heart.

For those people who really love to watch bad movies so they can hate them I have list they might like. ;-) You could start with "The Polish Vampire in Burbank" and move on to "Behind the Green Door" just for starters. I find it frustrating to turn the TV on and have 300 or so channels with nothing worth watching. But that's how the movie and TV shows are these days. I can't help but wonder if it is a lack of good scripts or if the producers just can't recognize a good script from a bad one. When a movie as bad as The Blair Witch, made by students on a budget of $8000 can turn a profit of more than $140,000,000 that's sad business. When people pay to see bad movies it sends the wrong signal to every producer in Hollywood. I have no doubt my kids could make a better movie than that.

Casper meets Wendy is a feel good movie and if you liked the comics of these characters you should like the movie. The acting and gags are geared for a kiddy flick and they accomplish exactly what the director wanted them to.

I have seen much worse movies, and Casper:A Spirited Beginning is worse in my opinion than Casper Meets Wendy. Casper Meets Wendy in my opinion is not a good movie, more mediocre for my tastes, but it could have been much worse.

PROS: The costume and set design is excellent and the film's photography is quite good. The music is decent, and Hilary Duff does a good job as Wendy. Also Casper is still very cute.

CONS: I love the ghostly uncle trio as characters, and while they are well-voiced and look good I cannot say the same for their dialogue and slapstick. In general the script is weak, the effects aside from the ghosts look rather slap-dash and the slapstick is tired and generic. I liked the inclusion of Cathy Moriaty and George Hamilton, but was disappointed in their performances, for my money Moriaty is better as a villainess and Hamilton is so over-the-top his character becomes annoying and ineffectual. The film is too short and too rushed for my tastes too, making the predictable story seem even thinner than it already is.

In conclusion, a mediocre movie but I have seen much worse in all honesty. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Nice children's movie. Fun and full of good feelings. A little cheesy but in line with the character of Casper, the child ghost that everyone loves.

Definitely simpler than the original 1995 film and with much lighter themes.

"Casper" is one of the best live-action family films to me. It has the best special effects ever and the cast was superb. On the other hand, "Casper : A Spirited Beginning" was one of the worst made for t.v. family films I can remember. I couldn't believe top stars like Rodney Dangerfield, Steve Guttenberg, & James Earl Jones would star in slop like that. Anyway, I was really scared to try out "Casper Meets Wendy" but now I'm glad I did. I fell in love with the cast and excellent special effects the first time watching it. Shelley Duvall, Cathy Moriarty, & Teri Garr are Wendy's three hilarious witch aunts. The basic plot: Wendy the Good Little Witch and her three witless witch aunts hide out at Sunny Brite Resort trying to escape from the evil warlock Desmond Spellman, played wonderfully by George Hamilton. The ghostly trio has also vacationed at the resort and naturally Wendy meets the lonely Casper the Friendly Ghost, where they begin a boo-tiful friendship that's out of this world. If you thought the original Casper was good you are destined to enjoy this one. Great cast, special effects, and direction will please the whole family. Go rent or buy this film when you have some time. It's worth it! Available on video now from 20th Century Fox.