Arthur and the Invisibles [2007] - DVD (Robert De Niro, Madonna, Snoop Dogg, David Bowie, Freddie Highmore - Dir: )

First released in France, Luc Besson's Arthur and the Invisibles is a touching computer animated adventure that makes up in look and in character for what it lacks in narrative originality. As a direct hybrid of Excalibur and A Bug's Life, Arthur stars a heroic ten year-old, Arthur (Freddie Highmore), who draws a sword from a stone to fight a miniature battle in the garden before finding treasure valuable enough to save his grandfather's farm from purchase by developers. Arthur's grandfather, Archibald, having long ago discovered the miniscule world of Minimoys, garden gnome-like elves that lived in his yard, shrunk himself in order to hunt elusive rubies that were hidden in their evil Mecropolis, headed by Maltazard (David Bowie). Now Arthur must assist the benevolent Minimoy clan, ruled by The King (Robert De Niro) and Princess Selenia (Madonna), in challenging Maltazard for possession of the jewels. Shots taking the viewer down through grass blades into the microscopic, yet gigantic yard world readjust one's sense of size, as do scenes, for example, in which a small, elven Arthur fights mosquitoes with catapulted tomatoes. Meanwhile, live action scenes of Arthur's worried grandmother (Mia Farrow) provide respite from a completely computerized world. Bowie, as he did in Legend, steals the show, bringing to life his Darth Vader-like character who chose evil over good in a past adventure. Corny one-liners sometimes spoil the mood, but overall the film's thematic blend of fantasy and environmentalism, like Princess Mononoke, will delight children with its positive message. --Trinie Dalton

Customer Reviews of Arthur and the Invisibles [2007]

T. Saunders

6th January 2009

UK/US version versus International
I must agree with Nanahuatzin, this film is good but the international edit is much better. I got the UK DVD on sale in Zavvi (sadly the closing down sale) and after watching it found a few bits confusing, so as I generally do I checked it out on IMDB. There I learned that the distributors in the US decided to cut the love scenes out for the US and UK films. So I looked around, having not spent much money on the UK cut, and found an international DVD with full uncut English soundtrack. 9 minutes of footage doesn't sound like much, but suddenly so many scenes make more sense! So buy the international film and watch it as it should be seen. Oh, and it's real name is "Arthur and the Minimoys", not "Arthur and the Invisibles".

Andrew Crook
UK
20th July 2008

Pants!
This is an awful, awful film. The plot is pathetic and makes no sense. In fact it annoyed me whilst watching it because it was so bad. Even my 7 year old got bored and started asking questions about why he was doing this and that. (Arthur that is).

The only good thing about this film is The child actor who plays Arthur who is brilliant and stars in the Spiderwick Chronicles, which is a fantastic film and shouldn't be mentioned in the same breathe as this drivel.

I was tempted to ask for my money back at the end. Don't buy this film don't even watch it when it comes on TV. I'd rather watch ten back to back episodes of The One Show than watch this again, and that's saying something. You've been warned.

Stimpy Bluenose
On the Planet
6th April 2008

This film is dreadful
I actually shudder in a Pavlovian response when I see this movie is showing on TV. It is a terrible film whose only redeeming feature is that my child loved it. It will be enjoyed by children but adults? the decision, to watch or not to watch? remember you will lose a potentially crucial 90 or so minutes of your life in the process.
Madonna plays a spoilt princess and her whiny nasal voice starts to grate very quickly. For once she is all too convincing. I actually enjoyed the Club scene with Snoop Dogg as a welcome break in the dire proceedings. All the characters and their dialogue seemed to have been created with an intent to irritate, irk and annoy. Perhaps this film should be seen in order to preserve the equilibrium, it is so bad you will enjoy the good all the more by comparison.

Marshall Lord
Whitehaven, UK
27th January 2008

Charming and entertaining family film
This delightful little adventure was greatly enjoyed by my two small children but also had enough more sophisticated jokes and challenges to be entertaining for the adults in the family.

"Arthur and the invisibles" is a mix of live-action and CGI which merge seamlessly into each other as the action switches between two scales - that on which humans lives, and that of tiny elves the size of an ant and known as the invisibles or "Minimoys."

Arthur, a ten year old boy played and voiced by Freddie Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) is staying with his grandmother (Mia Farrow) in Conneticut. His parents, who are trying to cope with a difficult financial era, have packed him off, first to boarding school in England (conveniently explaining Freddie's English accent) and then to his grandparents' farm during the vacation, while they try to find work "in the City".

Arthur's grandfather Archibald (Ron Crawford), an engineer who spent many years working on projects in Africa, has mysteriously disappeared some four years before. Somewhere on his land, he had hidden a valuable collection of rubies with which he had been presented by a grateful African tribe. This treasure is desperately needed because a greedy developer (Adam Lefevre) is setting up the compulsory purchase of Archibald's home, following which he plans flatten the entire area for redevelopment.

With two days to go before the developer will be able to evict Arthur and his grandmother, Arther finds a message from his grandfather about his mission to get the rubies back, which tells Arthur how to contact this microscopic tribe. The adventure which follows is more extraordinary than he could have imagined ...

The world of the tiny Minimoys is brought to life in charming CGI with a star studded voice cast. Robert de Niro voices the King of the Minimoys with Madonna playing his daughter, Princess Selenia, and Harvey Keitel his minister, Miro. Snoop Dogg voices Max, the proprietor of a micro-nightclub: Jason Bateman provides the voice of the sinister Darkos, who is the son of the even more sinister "Evil M," brilliantly voiced by David Bowie.

While most of the film is aimed at small children, there are plenty of jokes which will amuse grown-ups. For example, when using a clockwork toy car to escape from danger at high speed, Arthur says "Just hope there arn't any speed cameras down here or we've had it."

Extras on the DVD include music videos for two of the songs: "Quest for Love" performed by Jewel and "Beautiful Day" performed by Elijah.

Overall, the plot isn't the most original I've ever seen, and the film might not appeal to some older teenagers or to adults who have difficulty entering into the spirit of children's stories. It isn't in quite the same league as "The Incredibles" or the first two "Shrek" films which is why I've given this film four stars rather than five.

However, the vast majority of small children will enjoy "Arthur and the Invisibles" - mine certainly did - and many parents will not find it too difficult to watch with their children.

L. Holder
birmingham west midlands
31st October 2007

an enjoyable and enteraining family film
i found this film an excellent film for all ages, the animation was fantastic and so was the story, this film brings magics, hope and dreams out in to the real world.
As a believer of magic, i was amazed by a film that was funny and enjoyable and made children believe in magic and also quite funny as it was an adventure film too.
this is a film that anybody of any age can watch, as it is enjoyable and very enteraining, very enjoyable well worth it.