Inkheart Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Inkheart Blu-ray Movie Review

A yawn-inducing dud limps onto Blu-ray...

The revival of any genre can bring with it an exhilarating explosion of ideas and creative talent; its unshackled filmmakers capable of rejuvenating its tired bones and ensuring it never goes extinct again. But after showing initial promise and power, a genre revival is all too often reduced to a profitable venture; the sort of ticket-yielding cashcow that attracts industry vultures and produces watered-down drivel that doesn't live up to its potential. Such is the curse of Fantasy, a genre that seems to surge and wane every decade as audiences embrace then reject its wares. For every Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter series handed to the masses, a Spiderwick Chronicles, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, or Stardust arrives to sully Fantasy's reputation. Falling squarely amongst the latter group of misguided films comes Inkheart, director Iain Softley's adaptation of the first book in German author Cornelia Funke's Inkworld trilogy. Dull, lifeless, and uninspired, the film not only squanders the efforts of its actors, it comes undone with an at-times nonsensical script, painfully neutered villains, and a troop of paper-thin protagonists.

Brendan Fraser was fantastic in 'Gods and Monsters'... ten years ago.

Mo Folchart (Brendan Fraser) is cursed with a frightening power: when he reads a story aloud, objects and characters from its pages have a habit of materializing in the real world. Never mind that he doesn't realize he has this ability until his early thirties, never mind that he only learns what he can do after accidentally trapping his wife (Sienna Guillory) in a conveniently out-of-print storybook, never mind that he just so happens to yank a Big Baddie (Andy Serkis) with dreams of world domination into our realm of existence at the very same moment... Mo can move mountains, destroy cities, or create life simply by cracking open a book. Having spent the last ten years on the road with his daughter Meggie (Eliza Bennett), the decidedly square-jawed American traipses across the English hillsides in search of secondhand bookstores. His goal? To find a copy of the book that caused all his troubles and "read" everything back to its proper place. Along the way, he has to contend with the persistence of an indecisive, fire-wielding frenemy named Dustfinger (Paul Bettany), the long-nosed criticism of his comically-stern mother-in-law (a miscast Helen Mirren), the appearance of a young treasure-hunter (Joseph Gordon-Levitt dopplegänger Rafi Gavron) he reads into existence, and the absent-minded awe and assistance of the elderly author (Jim Broadbent) who penned the original book.

Despite an intriguing premise, Inkheart sputters out of the gate and stalls long before the third act's contrived denouement (ripped straight out of Raiders of the Lost Ark, set design and all) quashes any hope of cinematic redemption. From the moment our valiant hero explains the circumstances that led to his wife's disappearance, it's clear that screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire has no intention of filling in plot holes or giving rhyme or reason to Mo's powers or their development. In one scene, the silver-tongue shclub reads Little Red Riding Hood's cloak into the real world without noticing anything happened. In another scene, his reading visibly distorts reality and has an effect on his physical and mental composure. So which are we to accept? It's this sort of disregard for internal logic that haunts the entirety of the film, making it difficult to sink into the possibilities of a world where fiction and reality mingle at the mere mention of a word. And don't get me started on the half-formed henchman, the contrived friendship that develops between Dustfinger and a kitchen maid or, for that matter, the flame-flicking traitor's incessant
I love you, I hate you, I love you, I hate you relationship with Mo.

It doesn't help that the story progresses with the feigned fervor of a tortoise crossing a six-lane highway. The characters retrace their steps again and again ad nauseum. Everyone runs! Just to find out they have to turn around. Everyone escapes! Just to find out they have to come back. Everyone moves forward! Just to find out they have to duck and cover. With his daughter in grave danger, Mo makes the brazen decision to... hide in an abandoned castle shack for fifteen minutes! With loved ones suspended in midair as a young girl is forced to unleash hell, he... cowers behind a distant stone pillar and strongly suggests she stops! When faced with an old enemy he... scrambles away and visits his nearby mother-in-law! After all, who would look for him there? Sadly, the film trudges on like this for an hour and a half. It never picks up the pace, it never excites, it never thrills, and it rarely entertains. It just sort of lies there and mulls over what to do next, occasionally flopping about as if it were seized with some uncontrollable purpose.

Don't get me wrong, it amounts to passable fantasy fodder that'll probably find moderate success on home video. I'll even admit that the contributions of Serkis, Bennett, and Bettany save the film from complete failure. But I longed for Inkheart to bare its soul, to reveal the magic at the heart of its story or, at the very least, to embrace the sort of whimsy that would breathe some air into its lungs. Instead, I had to smack my gums and wade through bland characters and inane subplots, all the while looking for some semblance of reason to tie it all together. Give this one a rent if you must, but only after digging through anything else on your list that has more to offer than this terribly average bore.

Inkheart Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Inkheart's uneven 1080p/VC-1 transfer offers two distinct experiences: one is a sumptuous presentation simmering with rich colors, refined detailing, and exquisite shadows; the other is a soft, over-processed mess that suffers from occasional smearing, aliasing, and ringing. The image you encounter depends on the scene at hand. Closeups and interior scenes are generally strong, delivering crisp definition, revealing textures, and impressive delineation. Scenes in Capricorn's castle are more satisfying than anything else, effectively juxtaposing the warm torches lining the walls with the dank confines of his dungeons. A third act ceremony stands out as well, leaving little doubt that Inkheart has serious high definition potential. Unfortunately, establishing shots and camera pans are a constant problem. A lakeside snack outside of a mansion is populated with hazy shots, watching a truck drive up a mountainside is akin to watching a chocolate bar plow through a ridge of Crayola-born trees, and a rodent's espionage mission is plagued with intermittent softness. It's all rather distracting.

Add to that issues with crush, instances of over-or-undercooked contrast, and a sprinkling of source noise, and you have an inconsistent transfer that could look a lot better than it does. Fans of the film will probably be more forgiving -- particularly since the positive aspects of the picture dominate far more screentime than the negatives -- but I found the overall presentation to be a bit unreliable and disappointing.

Inkheart Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

When I first started watching Inkheart, I forgot to hop into the menu and manually engage the disc's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track (Warner titles often default to standard Dolby Digital audio). Wow, what a difference. The standard mix simply pales in comparison to the thunderous power and crystal clear fidelity of its lossless counterpart. But I digress. Warner's TrueHD track is easily the highpoint of its Blu-ray release, serving up impeccable prioritization, dialogue clarity, LFE prowess, and rear speaker aggression. Ambience dances across the soundfield, supporting rustling trees and crowded assemblies with the same meticulous attention to detail. Likewise, Capricorn's castle is an acoustic playground, tapping each and every speaker to create an enveloping stone-walled structure that imprisons sound as readily as it holds its dungeon's denizens. Trickling water, scattering gravel, and the weighty thuft-thoft of footsteps enhance the illusion, proving Inkheart's sound designers were intent on injecting some manner of heart-n-soul into the proceedings. But it's the film's use of blazing fire that impresses the most: from the roar of spewing flames to the crackle of a burning building, the TrueHD track makes the most of its every effect. It isn't quite reference quality (a fine line that's tough to define), but it is a remarkable aspect of an otherwise underwhelming release.

Inkheart Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Alas, the BD-Live enabled Blu-ray edition of Inkheart returns to form with a limited supplemental package. A Story with the Cast & Crew (HD, 7 minutes) finds the actors and filmmakers (including the dog that plays Toto... sigh) inserting a line of their own creation into a charming pass-it-on fairytale; From Imagination to the Page (HD, 11 minutes) is an all-too-short featurette that explores the work and philosophies of author Cornelia Funke; Eliza Reads to Us (HD, 4 minutes) finds the actress who plays Meggie reading a passage from Funke's book; and a collection of nine Deleted Scenes (SD, 14 minutes).

Of note, this release also includes standard DVD and Digital copies of Inkheart. However, both secondary versions of the film are housed on a single disc, transforming what could have been a clunky 3-disc endeavor into a cost-cutting, streamlined 2-disc set.

Inkheart Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Inkheart isn't the adventurous fantasy classic it could have been, but rather an insipid distraction that's sure to be forgotten the moment The Half-Blood Prince hits theaters. Its Blu-ray release isn't very memorable either: aside from a rousing TrueHD audio track, the disc falters with an uneven video transfer and an unfulfilling batch of supplements. I'm sad to say it about a film that had such potential, but Inkheart is, at best, a rental.