You’ve probably seen the trailers for Bridge to Terabithia by now, a film which Disney is pushing as their next big fantasy flick. I saw the movie earlier this week and we’ll have our review up in a few days, but here’s a sneak peak at what it’s going to say:
Terabithia’s marketing campaign is a big, stupid lie.
Whatever you may have heard or seen, Bridge to Terabithia is not a fantasy movie. The trailers make it look like a third-rate Narnia knockoff or an Eragon bosom buddy, but there are no talking lions, magic kingdoms, or mystical prophecies in the movie. It has nothing to do with anything even remotely like that. Instead, the film has more in common with the 1991 Macauley Culkin movie My Girl and 1986’s Stand By Me. Bridge is an incredibly realistic portrayal of kids struggling with the issues that plague pre-teens and winning.
I liked the movie, but Disney is completely misrepresenting it. Kids are going to drag their parents in to catch the next Harry Potter and what they’re getting is a pretty heavy tear-jerker drama about growing up. Great performances from burgeoning child actors Josh Hutcherson and Keira Knightley look-alike AnnaSophia Robb make Bridge to Terabithia worth seeing, but the faux fantasy stuff they’ve shoehorned into the trailers is barely in the film, and even then it’s not at all what they’re advertising it as.
Whether it’s intentional because they think tricking people into seeing the movie is the only way they can sell it, or whether it’s accidental because they simply don’t have a clue, they’re still lying to you. This is not that movie. You have been warned.
