Film Snark

There are literally 3 good people in this film: Elliott, Pete, and Nora. Three and a half because Lampie has his good moments. This is a movie about a bunch of jerky, drunk people who are either trying to scam a small town or abuse children.

They didn't spend enough time with Elliott visible. He's darling and I love him. Given that I hate almost everyone else in this film, I want more Elliot time.

The right message is there in the end, honestly, but my patience is very thin for how much terribleness is mixed in. I'll give them 40+ minutes of true wholesomeness at the beginning (after the Gogans' first song), but the movie could have done with like...2 less groups of villains. The town, the teacher, the Gogans, the traveling scam artist. I need a break from everyone who's awful.

Ultimately, the plot is held together very loosely and the pacing on the movie is pretty slow. I like that Eglantine is doing correspondence for witchcraft and that Browne is a huckster; I also like that her purpose is to help England win the war, and I like that she has to take the kids in. It's hard to tell what slows the pace down for me; maybe it's the side trip to Naboombu or the fight with the bookseller, or something. It feels like they tried to squeeze too much in and it made it slower and kind of boring?

The special effects are hit-or-miss, as is the music. But I do still love Eglantine, and the moments I had in my head as memories are still as fun now as they were when I was a kid. I definitely feel like this was another play by Disney to build off of Mary Poppins' success, and this is an inferior film.