Charlotte's Web Movie Review

Reviewed by Kidzworld on Dec 27, 2006

Rating:

Theres a good chance youve read this story about friendship, courage and a remarkable pig. Can the movie live up to the literary legacy? Kidzworld reviews the new Paramount film Charlottes Web!

There's a good chance you've read this classic story about friendship, courage and a remarkable pig but can the movie live up to the literary legacy? We take a look at Charlotte's Web.

Fighting Injustice One Pig at a Time

When Fern (Dakota Fanning) wakes up in the middle of the night, she sets in motion a series of events that will change her ordinary town forever. She sees a light coming from the barn and hurries to see the spring pigs being born. Unfortunately, life on a farm isn't always easy - Fern's dad is about to kill the runt of the litter because there are too many piglets. Fern manages to talk her dad into letting her take care of the pig who she names Wilbur (voiced by Dominic Scott Kay).

Odd Pig Out

When Wilbur starts getting to be a little too big for the stroller that Fern pushes him around in, he gets sent to live at Uncle Homer's barn across the street. Fern still visits him everyday but Wilbur misses the constant companionship and turns to his fellow barn mates for friendship. Unfortunately for Wilbur, this isn't the friendliest barn in town. The sheep (John Cleese) is too much of a snob to play, the geese (Oprah and Cedric the Entertainer) are too busy guarding their eggs to play, and the horse (Robert Redford) is too focused on his work. But things take a turn for the better when he hears a mysterious voice in the night.

Every Pig Has His Day

Wilbur soon discovers that the mystery voice isn't coming out of thin air - it's coming out of a spider web in the doorway to the barn. Wilbur meets Charlotte (Julia Roberts) - a kindly spider who is unpopular in the barn because of her somewhat frightening appearance (looks like humans aren't the only ones with arachnophobia). Wilbur and Charlotte become the best of friends but his happiness is short lived after being told that the farmers plan to eat him for Christmas. Charlotte quickly begins to make a plan to keep her friend off the dinner table - and ends up changing the whole town in the process.

DVD Features

This family friendly flick is bursting at the seams with DVD extras. From music videos to photo albums, you get a ton of great Charlotte's Web related features. Find out how the production team made real animals talk, play the first level of the Sega Charlotte's Web video game and watch hilarious outtake from the movie.

The Bottom Line

Charlotte's Web stays unwaveringly true to the book it's based on for better or for worse. It's full of big name stars - at least their voices - and live animals acting super-cute. If you're more than a little scared of spiders, the true-to-life animations of Charlotte may freak you out a little (but remember, one of the messages of this film is that everyone - even spiders - is beautiful in their own way). This is a sweet, beautifully shot film that can be just a little too slick and a little too precious some of the time. Still, it's a worthwhile flick for anyone who loves the book or has a hankering for simple farm living.