La porte magique

I love a good sci fi and fantasy film, so I decided to give this a try. I'm glad I did, because it wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything like I expected.

The British tend to like their buffoonery, and there was simply too much of it in the beginning. Sam Neill could never be described as cute but that's what they were trying to make him be.

The story was also difficult to follow. The Humphries had me completely baffled until very close to the end.

Considering Jim Henson was involved with this I thought the goblins were very poorly done. Also some of the sets were great but some of the characters not very well defined at all.

Overall I didn't hate it and I watched it from start to finish in one go. But it was very slow to start and just wasn't polished enough to understand, so by the end I only just realised what I had watched.

I'm baffled a bit by the other reviews and was nearly going to not give this movie a go but I'm so glad I did! I watched with the whole family and even though it was longer than most movies my kids would sit through, they loved it.

It was so odd in times that it actually made the movie more fun to watch- there were several times we were laughing out loud at the fantastic weirdness of it all!

I'm someone who watches a movie almost every night and visits the cinema weekly and found this a really enjoyable watch so I would definitely give it a go if you're thinking about it and don't worry, all those things that seem odd in the beginning end up making sense in the end!

A great film - well done!

P.s I didn't find the movie that dark, there are a couple of scenes that might be a bit scary that my youngest (5) was a little worried about initially, but ended up being fine with.

I read a lot of reviewers comparing this movie with Harry Potter but I don't agree. The story is totally different, much weirder which was a good thing I thought. The only thing they have in common is that it is all fantasy and in this genre The Portable Door is an entertaining movie. It takes a while to understand what's going on but it's never annoying. Christopher Waltz always delivers, never disappoints. Sam Neil was also good in playing his strange character. The whole cast did a decent job making this movie interesting to follow. I can see some sequels in the future if it catches on. I'm up for it.

This is a somewhat contradictory movie.

Unusually, I chose to watch it on impulse, out of the blue, with no prior knowledge of what it was about, other than it had an intriguing title and a good cast.

From the first few minutes and on to about 45 minutes, the script, apparent plot, and acting successfully draw you in.

Everything is set up for The Portable Door to be some intriguing, mind binding, psychological, thought provoking film for adults.

You are being taken from the seemingly innocuous streets of London to witness what goes on behind the doors of a mysterious company run by people, Waltz and Neil, whose stated intent is the secret control of the masses, and to sell that ability to the highest bidders.

Burton's confusion but initial happiness in getting a strange job in this mysterious company is well portrayed, as is his discovery of his hitherto unknown 'other world' abilities.

It feels like a very dark, sci-fi, adult Alice in Wonderland equivalent, with The Portable Door being the entrance to anywhere possible, as per the rabbit hole.

Then, just as you sense this film can really take off into deep and intriguing mind games, something happens.

To me it suddenly changes direction, backs away from being grown up, and the second half goes completely the opposite, dumping all the careful build-up, the mystery, the intrigue, and the subtlety of leaving you wondering where is this going!

And for me that is why it seems the whole first half, of potentially a great attention grabbing movie, appears to be dumped in the bin.

It's as if halfway through making it, the director was told that the studio had now given permission for a good CGI budget to be available.

So now they had to spend it.

And that is why, the film suddenly changes from an interesting subtle mind drama to an all out, in your face, no mystery, flashes, bangs, wallops, villain chasing goodie with loads of odd other creatures hanging around kids fantasy movie.

So the last half hour or so is what you expect to see anywhere else, and therefore the end result is pretty obvious from way out, rather than being a last minute cliff-hangar.

I enjoyed the first half, but disappointed with the second half.

So much potential for a really intriguing film, and then it all reverts to a flash, bang, wallop, CGI action film, which chucks all the great acting of Waltz and Neill early on, out of the window.

IMPORTANT!!!

Right at the end of the last credits featuring all the CGI creators etc.., there is a clip of a final scene showing Burton, as the character Carpenter.

What happens in that scene is strangely a precise summary of what I have written above - so much potential, but at the end not much achieved.

So do watch right to the end.

It's a fitting summary added by the Director - very telling!

This movie is a good one-time-to-watch film. You may bring your family to the cinema and you will spend a good time watching it in a relaxed atmosphere.

However, if you expect some mind-blowing plot or unexpected twists - this film will mostly disappoint you. In fantasy movies there is always a thin ice in terms of making the plot work in some "magical" world but you still believe it, and having some absurd world. This film is closer to the second variant. Sometimes you find yourself at the point when you think "OK, this seems to be stolen from Harry Potter", sometimes you are like "What the hell? What am I watching". This film is rather naive fairytale than a Lord of the Rings style saga, that you can watch over and over again and not feel yourself as a young kid forced to believe something just because it is said so in movie.

Thus, I would recommend going to watch this film. Just take it easy and turn off the movie critic inside of you :)