Director: Gabor Csupo
Year Released: 2007
Rating: 0.5
He's just poor boy from a poor family (Josh Hutcherson) and she's just a rich girl from a rich family (AnnaSophia Robb) and in their 'fantasy-as-therapy zone' they create a magical world to escape from reality: they create a play castle, they dream up flying bee warriors and encounter tree-trolls. Dreadfully blasé before it decides to kill off one of the kids, which is pure screenwriter/novelist hackery - if you can't generate awe and wonder with "Terabithia" itself (which, compared to other kid pictures, isn't that developed a dream-world) and its sub-Jungian imagery at least draw up pathos with a tragic death (Mama, life had just begun!). Then again, you can't expect much from a movie that doesn't realize (a.) there would be no way a girl could block off the bathrooms in exchange for money without being punished for it or (b.) that young teacher Le Zooey's taking Hutcherson to the art museum would be viewed upon with suspicion in today's school climate or even (c.) that for its characters' staunch Luddism (our two nimble heroes eschew electronics and TVs for outdoors-y bliss), CGI is used to create Terabithia. But it's not like any of this really matters to me....
