"Bridge to Terabithia" (2007) - Movie Review

When I entered to view “Bridge to Terabithia”, I was expecting one another fantasy movie about attaining the impossible and a feel good factor at the end. While it starts as a typical children’s movie, “Bridge to Terabithia”, directed by Gabor Csupo is far from the normal fantasy film. The lead casts are mostly children with Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb, Bailee Madison and Robert Patrick as Jesse’s Dad, Jack Aarons. The movie is adapted from the acclaimed novel By Katherine Paterson.

Jesse Aarons is the only son in a family with four sisters. Jack Aarons and his wife are finding it just enough to have a decent living, financially. Jesse and his younger sister May Belle finds it hard to cope up with the tough kids in the school. Leslie Burke enters, who is vibrant, enthusiastic and full of imagination into Jesse’s life. Immediately she befriends Jesse and May Belle. She takes him to the woods nearby their house and forms a kingdom. A Kingdom of imagination, wherein they free themselves from the stressful outer world. Together they bend the ambience surrounding them and delve into their heroism in their imaginary world. They name their empire, Terabithia.

From there on, the viewers encounter how they balance the both worlds and get the best out of it. The handling of imagination as the escape from the tough and stressed environment is brilliant. When the film enters the school sequences, the tendency to have stereo typed bullies bodes darkness in the uniqueness of the story, but the change of heart in one of the characters in the further part of the story is convincing and real. Leslie is full of energy and positive attitude. She sees the beauty in even the slightest hint of it. She never shrugs of for competition yet very amicable. Of all, she forms the living core of individualism. This may seem too mature for a kid but the way it has been given is entertaining and possible. When the viewers see all energy reeking out of Leslie, there is Jesse who is shy and longing for dad’s love. He is full of imagination too as Leslie but never discloses it. He lives in his blanket covered nights of art. He has a crush on his music teacher but develops an emotion for Leslie. They are shown as the best of friends. Personality separates them but imagination unites them. With them in place, the cutest character in the movie is May Belle. She is the typical younger sister every family has. She supports her brother and hangs on to him all the time. She is fine when both Leslie and Jesse hide in the secret world, leaving her to carry Jesse’s schoolbag. She never questions his brother and loves him next to her dad. All these three characters done by Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb and Bailee Madison takes the characters out of the paper and bring it to real on the screen. Robert Patrick as the stern but loving dad is impressive as well.

Editing is crisp and in a definitive style. The musical score brings out the smiles in the faces of the viewers. Watch out for the scores in the initial scene of racing in the school and the exploration of woods by Jesse and Leslie. The background score is mesmerizing in those two sequences. Dialogues are simple yet profound. Bringing out deep meaning from a kid’s mouth is a challenging task and they have conquered it. Screenplay flows like an undisturbed stream at an enjoyable pace.

The film is about the kids who may “supposedly” have a normal childhood, are still in fight for their identity and desire. It places the standpoint of woman liberation in the most interesting way through Leslie. The conversation in between Jesse and Leslie are the real issues in our society. Taking the trade/job of parents seems the best choice for many people while Leslie argues otherwise. She wants a world of talent and happiness. She inspires Jesse and Jesse inspires her in a calm fashion. The chemistry in between them is so romantic yet there is no sequence to substantiate those. Leaving that very open ended is creative. The chemistry is so intense; the last half an hour of the movie is very emotional due to that.

“Bridge to Terabithia” is advertised as a fantasy movie but it is definitely more than that. It is not the typical children’s movie. It is not alone a children’s movie. It is a film for all age group. It provides the windows of imagination which may help everyone in their tough times. It delegates the opportunity of self recognition and individualism. It facilitates the concept of unique creativity and the handling the love. It is the poetic portrayal of the love shared in between various characters so subtle yet powerful.

During the first one hour of the film, I was saying to myself, “This is one of the cutest films for the year of 2007”. At the end of the movie, I was saying to myself, “This is one of the cutest and best films to provide the nice start for 2007”.