Readers who want to exercise their imaginations may prefer to stick to the written word. If a story gets boring, you can always skip a few pages and move on. In the cinema there isn't much choice.

The message is so muddied by the film's dizzying changes in pitch and tone that a lot of young readers aren't going to know what to think.

The aesthetics of Inkheart are part of what make it such a surprisingly enjoyable experience to watch.

A significantly condensed, if slightly sleepy adaptation of Cornelia Funke's bestseller. Fraser is channeling Rick from The Mummy, Mirren is here for the paycheck and Serkis is miscast. The FX holds up well, though!