FIVE CHILDREN & IT

"I'm a sand fairy"

IT

As the war in Europe intensifies, Cyril (Bailey), Robert (Highmore), Anthea (Claridge), Jane (Rogers) and Lamb are evacuated from London to their Uncle Albert's (Branagh) house in the countryside. Their Uncle and his housekeeper Martha (Wanamaker) allow them the freedom of the mansion with the exception of the greenhouse. Intrigued as to why this room is out of bounds, Freddie decides to investigate and finds a door in the base of the statue in the center of the room. Joined by the rest of the children, they open the door to find that it leads to a deserted beach. But this is no ordinary beach, as this is the home of a sand fairy called Psammead (Izzard) and as the children have found him, they are granted one wish a day.

As film studios finally discover that children's novels can in fact make great movies, does Five Children & IT have what it takes to make IT in this ever-growing market? Unfortunately not.

Based on the novel by E. Nesbit (who also wrote the Railway Children), Five Children & IT just doesn't have what it takes to grab your attention from the off. The signs where good at first however. The adult cast is filled with some great British character actors, the special effects where to be provided by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the story has great potential and Eddie Izzard was providing the voice of IT. So what went wrong?

This is a story seen through the eyes of the children but the problem is that the kids are just not good enough actors to carry the movie. Freddie Highmore is the best of the bunch, showing some real talent during the more dramatic scenes but his character just isn't likeable enough to get behind. He just comes across as a mischievous, annoying little brother who always gets everyone in trouble. Hardly a hero figure for the piece. The rest of his siblings are not much better and come across as very one dimensional and uninteresting. None of their characters are developed at all but you also concluded that even if they were, the young actors playing them are not talented enough to reflect this anyway.

On the plus side the adult cast members are very good but are not on the screen enough to make a significant impact. Kenneth Branagh is as good as ever as the maths obsessed Uncle. He plays the role with a great eccentricity that typifies the period and the kind of person who would live in a house of that size. Zoë Wanamaker's Martha is good but criminally underdeveloped. Tara Fitzgerald doesn't really have a lot to do but look worried. Look out for John Sessions and Norman Wisdom making cameos.

It is Eddie Izzard that steals the show as IT, the sand fairy that grants the children their wishes. This is a great vocal performance by the comic that makes the movie more watchable than it should have been. It is just a shame that we don't see enough of IT and that the wishes he grants are not adventurous enough.

Five Children & IT is a missed opportunity. The child cast really lets the movie down and the lack of development of the adult characters is almost criminal when you see the talent the filmmakers had at their disposal. This is a movie with a message but when that message is forced down your throat, you just want to leave IT alone.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack, this is a good transfer. The picture quality brings out the best in fantasy world of 'IT', as it is crystal clear throughout. The sound is also good, highlighting the vocal performance of Eddie Izzard.

BONUS FEATURES

Making of… (59.32 mins)
Director John Stephenson, producer Nick Hirschkorn, 'IT' designers Jamie Courtier and Sharon Smith and stars Kenneth Branagh, Tara Fitzgerald, Zoë Wanamaker, Alex Jennings, Jonathan Bailey, Jessica Claridge, Alexander Pownall, Poppy Rogers, Freddie Highmore and Eddie Izzard come together to talk about '5 Children and IT'. Covering 'the Kids', 'the Adults', 'Eddie and the Sand Fairy', 'Making 'IT'', 'Inside the Lab', 'The Kids Fly' and 'Uncle Albert's Makeup', this comprehensive featurette includes interviews with the cast and crew and behind the scenes footage and gossip from the set. The main highlight is watching Eddie Izzard record the voice of 'IT'. He is hilarious.

Outtakes (5.01 mins)
A change from the normal outtakes, these are actually very funny. While there are the usual fluffing of lines, there is also some comedy falls and crewmembers in stupid places. It is also fun watching Kenneth Branagh get his lines wrong.

Eddie Outtakes
Listen to Eddie Izzard's adlibs covering the subjects 'Cheese in a bag', 'Fluffy Towels', 'Stylist Content', 'A House', 'A Paper Bag', 'Some Sheep', 'Handbags or Socks' and 'Children'. This is Eddie at his improvisable best and some of the adlibs are extremely funny.

Merchandising (0.46 mins)
An advert selling the bag, books and toy that accompany the film. Storyboards View all the storyboards for the movie but the writing is a tad too small to read, even on a large screen television.

Production Designs
View original artist renderings for the many sets and props used in '5 Children and IT'.

Theatrical Trailer and TV Spots (3.07 mins)
Watch the full trailer and the three TV adverts that were used to promote the movie.

Photo Gallery
A collection of Publicity shots for you to view

Trailers
Previews of Robots, The Magic Roundabout and Strawberry Shortcake

OVERALL

Pathé has done a good job with the DVD package for 'Five Children and IT'. The almost hour-long featurette covers most aspects of the film and is informative for both children and film fans. The outtakes are funny, especially Eddie Izzard's but some of the designs and storyboards are a bit hard to read. The only real thing missing is a commentary track. This aside, the DVD is still a good value packages that fans of the film should enjoy.

DVD

The Railway Children

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2004