The Little Prince (2016)

i must have seen a different film!!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

I put off watching this movie for a long while because I grew up reading the book. The Little Prince is my favorite book & I was terrified it would be terrible, but I am so glad I was wrong. This film is heartwarming & brings to life all of the charm the book has. The animation style is perfect & captures the characters beautifully. There are a few nitpicky things I didn't enjoy as much, but it did the book so much justice. If you haven't read The Little Prince, please do! It's short & lovely & a real classic. But if you are not a reader, this movie encapsulates the intellect & message of the book in the best way possible. If you, like me, are concerned about watching this film because you love the book, give it a watch. I guarantee it will not disappoint you.

I would give this a zero if IMDb allowed a zero. This lame, pseudo adaptation of the Little Prince deserves nothing precisely because it has NOTHING to do with the book. It capitalizes on a good story by turning it into some dreadful vehicle for how "it would have been such a better story if it had been entirely about a girl who saves several men..her mother..and probably the population of a small, androgynous colony on Mars... from the failures they were doomed to, without her...sniff". really, really lousy. Saint-Exupery wrote a beautiful story. But it didn't involve a precocious girl (oh, poor, poor sad thing.) who was exploited by her single, regretful mother (oh, bad, bad mummy) and how said girl redeems the life of a crusty old man or the eponymous Little Prince. This SUCKS. SUCK FEST. FESTIVAL OF SUCK. SUCKY, SUCKY, SUCKY, SUCKY, SUCKY SUCK. i think you get my drift. SUUUUUUCKCKCKCKCKCKS!!!!!!!!

A lot of people are probably going to hate me for not giving this a perfect score but the thing is, I really did enjoy this film! I admit to being very unfamiliar with the original book version of "The Little Prince". I only know that it's one of the best selling books of all time. I hear some people regard this as a stop motion film, but most of it isn't that at all. I was kind of disappointed by that, because while the CGI was good, the stop motion was simply fantastic. The details were down so perfectly and the characters had more depth this way. I still like the idea of two styles being blended together.I also like the story a lot, particularly with how it deals with a little girl who has a mother who literally arranges everything in her life to happen at a specific time. Most of us know what it's like to live with someone who wants everything to be precise. I admit that the film does get weak in the last third, particularly with how it suddenly turns into a dystopian future-like world. I do like the reveal for the main villain. This is the first and probably only movie I'll ever see on my Netflix as my free trial is ending. I had no idea it was just a Netflix movie so boy am I glad I saw it there! ***

The Little Prince is an adaption of the classic children's tale, with a modern twist. The film follows a young girl who lives with her single mother. The pair are highly regimented, and trying hard to get the young girl into a prestigious private school. To do so, a strict regiment of studying is required, which books her entire summer. She has no issue with this, until the kooky old man next door fires a propeller through her back wall, and changes the young girls life. He introduces her to his story of a young prince and his travels (loosely, the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry tale), and she begins to flounder on her studies, and opens her imagination up to the wondrous tales of adventure offered, and begins to wonder if they are really real.This is a well told story with an interesting twist to it. The Little Prince is a classic tale, and one which has sparked the imaginations of children the world over (and did so for me as well). Making a film out of such a tale can be daunting. How to adapt it to modern audiences? How to get studio backing for the project? Should it be a faithful adaption, or should there be changes? This version of the story is well told, and revolves quite a bit around the meta-story more so than the actual Little Prince tale. It takes place after the events of the story. The Aviatar is an old man, the Little Prince grown up, the stars have changed. This is more a tale of unlocking the power of imagination, and remembering the childhood we all once had, and the amazing and creative things we did back then.The film is animated in two styles. The first, is the main story, and features a more "realistic" style animation akin to a modern Disney film. The second is a paper-mache style animation done for the retelling of the Little Prince. Both suit the story well, although I personally preferred the more magical and innovative animation style done for the Little Prince sections of the film, over the more realistic style.Story-wise, I was left feeling lukewarm. The innovative story was interesting and fun, and sure to be appealing to kids and watchable for adults. I particularly enjoyed the interesting fantasy elements, which felt pure and innocent. The story of the young girl fit well enough into the framework of the Little Prince, as she journey's to find out what has happened since the story ended. Even so, some bits of the story felt highly manufactured. It is disappointing in some respects that the filmmakers did not give more story time and credit to the original work, and sacrificed much to a bog-standard version of childhood innocence. The Little Prince itself would have made a fantastic film (or even television series), and it feels wasteful to give it so little screen time in relation to the story of the girl and her mother, and how they don't understand each other, and how the mother forgot her childhood and so on. I unfortunately found myself constantly feeling disappointed at the films storytelling, and although it was not awful or even bad, it did not due the old story justice, and does not hold enough magic itself to create a new tale for the ages. It just felt mediocre.The target audience for the film also felt muddled. The film will surely be too childish for fans of the source work (those coming at it from a nostalgic lens). The story was also too grey and serious in some places for younger kids. The world the young girl inhibits is grey and corporate. Her life is regimented by schedules, the stars are gone, and she has no time for fun and games. Much of the movie's run time takes place in this space, and it may turn out to be to dull children.The voice acting in the film also felt a tad wooden. Jeff Bridges as the Aviator was a good choice on paper. He has a distinctive voice, and has played wonderful roles in many of his recent films. Even so, he felt too wooden. The voice acting felt like an Anime English dub, with little emotion or backing from him. Mackenzie Foy, as the young girl, was much more interesting in most place, but still suffered some of the same restrictions Bridges did, with wooden tones and such.As can be seen, this was a mixed bag for me to watch. It will be a disappointment for those who really enjoy the source work, and children may find it to grey and dull. The voice acting was wooden as well, and fell flat throughout the film. Even so, the interesting dual animation styles, the nods to the source work, and the cool fantasy elements to the film make it a more enjoyable watch than not. It is worth a shot for those with kids, and adults may get some good laughs and heartfelt moments out of it. All in all, a fairly enjoyable film with some unfortunate flaws, but still an interesting modern take on a classic children's tale. 6/10