Best movie of this year hands down!

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I consider myself a fan of THE BORROWERS after watching the BBC children's TV series in the early 1990s. Recently I read the original novel for the first time and enjoyed it; I also saw the fine Japanese animated adaptation of the story, ARRIETTY. So I was interested, if not a little wary, to see how this American version of the story would held up. It's worth noting that I'd never seen it before.Simply put, this is a travesty of a film and a huge disappointment for a true BORROWERS fan. Other than the central characters, the entire storyline has been jettisoned in favour of a bombastic, action-packed chase narrative in which the little people must team up to battle evil property tycoon John Goodman. This is about as far from the small-scale (pun intended) origins of the original Mary Norton story as it gets.There are a few lights twinkling away amid the garbage; I'll be the first to admit that Jim Broadbent makes for an effective Pod, and Tom Felton shines in an early role. Celia Imrie isn't bad as Homily, but she's no match for Penelope Wilton. The special effects aren't too bad for the year, and few of them scream 'obvious CGI' like so many Hollywood films today.So where did it go wrong? Well, the attempts to update the story for a modern American audience is a good start. The setting is some ridiculous 'netherworld' which mixes modern-day technology with 1950s-era Britain and America. It's ludicrous. Goodman's villain is poorly shoe-horned into the storyline and the subject of numerous fat jokes. Really? Is it right for a film to be teaching kids to constantly insult people due to their weight? The characters are badly written, the dumb humour consists of farting dogs and the like, and the whole thing has been dumbed down massively and lost the magic of the original. In the end it's just another soulless Hollywood effects piece.

This 90's adaptation of Mary Norton's The Borrowers books may not have much in connection with its much more benign, British source material, but it's still a rollicking blast of fun with jaw dropping special effects and a playfully wacky bunch of set pieces. The titular borrowers are tiny, 4 to 5 inch tall humans that live amongst us, often in our house walls and floors, "borrowing" bits and pieces of standard household items to make their homes, tools and clothes with. They're discreet, shy and industrious, and extremely distrustful of us humans. When Arietty gets spotted by a human boy, he captures her out of curiosity and learns about her species, much to the dismay of her wary father Pod (Jim Broadbent is great). The boy notifies her that their house is set for rezoning and demolition by order of a greedy fat ass developer named Ocious P. Potter (John Goodman hamming it up splendidly). This sets off a chain of high adventure, as the borrowers must try to relocate and must accept help from the human. The sets, props and costumes are all lovingly made and all seem to be set in an off kilter, Tim Burton or Dr. Seuss esque universe where everything is just slightly off, but amazing to look at. The chase through a milk bottle assembly line is a highlight. House himself Hugh Laurie shows up for a hilarious police officer role, and Mr. Weasley, Mark Williams is great as a goofy exterminator. It's a reunion of somewhat for the two, as they played the bumbling thugs in 101 Dalmatians. Goodman livens up every scene with his cartoonist belligerence, and the whole film has an energetic tone of revelry. Just don't look too closely for similarities to the books;)

If you forgive the fact that there are slow moments in the plot, this is a truly delightful family film. There are some genuinely funny and heart warming moments in the script, the costumes are colourful and the sets and scenery are quite elaborate. The part with Ocious and the Exterminator trying to demolish the house is one of many hilarious parts of the movie. Of course though it is indeed the special effects that steal the show, highly imaginative and clever. The film is directed by Peter Hewitt who also directed Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, and is fairly solid. As for the acting it was great. While there is a hilarious supporting turn from Mark Williams as the Exterminator, and fine support from British thespians Hugh Laurie, an adorable Tom Felton and Celia Imrie, two casting members stood out. One was Jim Broadbent, while he has been better, he is in good form as the father of the tiny Clocks. The other, and the more obvious one, is a perfectly cast John Goodman as the unscrupulous lawyer Ocious P. Potter. The music is great as well.All in all, a pretty darn good family film. Not perfect, but well worth the watch. 9/10 Bethany Cox

When this first came out, almost a decade ago, I thought it was the best job I had seen of making miniature people look real. This showed how far technology had come in films and now, of course, we see a lot more amazing special effects.It was fun to view how these "borrowers" moved about, using ordinary household items to propel themselves around a normal-sized house. It's all pretty ingenious.John Goodman plays a cartoon-like role, a role that is generally funny to watch. The cast has a mixture of American and English actors, with a setting of 1940s Britain. I first saw this on VHS and then later on DVD, which was improvement not only video-wise, but audio, too, as it somehow went from mono to surround sound. This might be considered a kids movie but a lot of the humor is more adult-oriented.