I was probably too harsh when I reviewed the first two movies in this series. Of course, that was some twenty years ago, and I was much younger then, and must have had some sort of bee in my bonnet. Ironically, now that I’m old I find it easier to be forgiving toward a film intended for children. That’s not to say I think this is a masterpiece, by any means. There still are some issues with the presentation here, particularly around certain characters being too predictably themselves, which is to say, too one dimensional—but that really traces back to the source material (the books). The plain fact is, this flick serves its purpose, which is to bring to life a much loved story with as much fidelity as fans could possibly expect. It’s watchable and does its job. Maybe not a work of wizardry, but hardly cause for damnation, either.
