Hello, and welcome to this week’s film roundup, taking you through the biggest cinema releases. This week we have a couple of classic kids’ book adaptations and a charming coming of age drama.
Usual disclaimer: unless otherwise stated, I haven’t seen these films. All of my opinions are based on trailers, early reviews and other rumours and buzz.
Harold and the Purple Crayon
The biggest release this week is Harold and the Purple Crayon, based on the children’s book by Crockett Johnson. The original story is a pre-school book about a young boy with a magic crayon that brings anything he draws with it to life – it’s very much concept over plot, so the film adaptation has taken that concept and worked it into more of a story.
Zachary Levi plays Harold, who is now all grown up and living with his friends Moose (Lil Rel Howery) and Porcupine (Tanya Reynolds). When the voice of his narrator (Alfred Molina) goes quiet, Harold uses his purple crayon to draw a door to the real world to find out what happened to him. The supporting cast also includes Zooey Deschanel and Jemaine Clement.
This film is based on a popular existing IP, with a solid cast and a concept that literally stretches as far as your imagination. Zachary Levi has good form playing an adult with incredible powers and the maturity of a child so seems a good fit here, and Molina and Clement are never not watchable. All of which makes it slightly worrying that I’ve seen almost nothing about this film – I’ve not seen the trailer at the cinema (perhaps because I’ve not been watching films where they’d want to promote a family film, but I feel like I’ve seen the Despicable Me 4 trailer 100 times) or seen any posters or other adverts for it. The reviews haven’t been great either, with the film currently sitting at 38% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Still, if you have some young kids looking for a way to kill a couple of hours of their school holidays, this will be a far more appropriate way to do so than taking them to Deadpool & Wolverine which is probably taking up 90% of the other screens at your local multiplex. That said, if you can find somewhere showing it, our next film on the list looks like it could be a lot more inspiring…
- Harold and the Purple Crayon on IMDB
- Harold and the Purple Crayon on Rotten Tomatoes
Kensuke’s Kingdom
The second film release this week based on a children’s book – this time a 1999 novel by Michael Morpurgo – Kensuke’s Kingdom tells the story of Michael, whose parents (Cillian Murphy and Sally Hawkins) take him on a round-the-world sailing trip. When a storm washes him overboard he finds himself on an island in the Pacific where he meets Kensuke (Ken Watanabe), an elderly Japanese man caring for the local wildlife.
There is some lovely, refreshingly 2D, animation on display in the trailer. It isn’t perfect – this is an indie film and it shows in some places, especially in Michael’s character design which is neither cartoony enough nor realistic enough to look particularly appealing – but there are moments of brilliance. The use of light as Michael is looking out over the bay at sunrise is particularly stunning. And Kensuke is beautifully animated – there’s a real warmth to his face that makes him instantly likeable. The production companies behind this also worked on the critically acclaimed Ethel & Ernest, as well as collaborating with Cartoon Saloon on films like The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea.
I’ve not read a lot of Michael Morpurgo, but I know he has a huge following as one of the most well-regarded children’s authors writing today. You can expect this story to be mature and meaningful, with some clear messages about the importance of appreciating and caring for the world around us. Plus there are cute baby orangutans. What’s not to love?
- Kensuke’s Kingdom on IMDB
- Kensuke’s Kingdom on Rotten Tomatoes
Didi
Didi is a semi-autobiographical coming of age tale about a young Taiwanese-American boy named Chris (Izaac Wang) enjoying his summer holidays. This is another one that I haven’t heard much about (although unlike Harold and the Purple Crayon this has the excuse of being a low budget indie film) and it looks beautiful.
You can tell from the trailer that a lot of it is drawing from the real life experiences of writer-director Sean Wang (who I still think should have won an Oscar for his incredibly sweet short film about his grandmothers Nai Nai & Wài Pó – Wài Pó (real name Zhang Li Hua) actually appears in Didi playing a character credited, slightly confusingly, as Nai Nai…). Chris’s mutual teasing with his sister, moments of rebellion against his mother, and efforts to impress his friends and potential girlfriend, all feel very natural, evocative and real. His love for capturing everything on camera is another sign that this is based on the kid who would grow up to be the filmmaker.
There are a lot of festival accolades and enthusiastic soundbites in the trailer, and it’s currently pulling some incredible scores on Rotten Tomatoes (at time of writing: 96% with critics and 100% with audiences). If you can find somewhere playing it, this looks like a great way to escape the summer heat and immerse yourself in some teenage nostalgia.
- Didi on IMDB
- Didi on Rotten Tomatoes
If you only see one film this week…
It’s a tough call this week as none of these releases have been on my radar for long, but the one that feels most likely to become an instant classic has to be Didi.
Still in cinemas and worth a watch
- Deadpool & Wolverine
- Longlegs
- Twisters
Trailer of the Week
Coming soon to Netflix, Kaos is a series that confirms what we all knew deep down: that Jeff Goldblum is a god…
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