The Thief Lord (2006)

That was an excellent one.

Such a frustrating disappointment

How sad is this?

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

First of all I'd like to praise Aaron Johnson he's by far the best actor of the bunch. His role is very difficult to act out specially for a kid his age (15) back then.I didn't like the movie itself very much because it comes across as jerky, sloppy and very unbalanced for instance: Bo and Prop have had a terrible time on the streets before they were rescued by Scipio but for some reason the Director/Screenwriter Richard Claus left that out. Scipio, is supposed to be a very careful character he wouldn't take in Bo and Prop for trying to steel some cough medicine. And then there's Scipio's mask. Scipio, hides his face for every adult according to the book but in the movie the mask goes on and off on the strangest moments, this really spoils the mystical character of Scipio also Scipio's normal life as a rich boy being mentally tormented by his father doesn't come across because the screenplay just skims over this very important fact. Now the "street kids" seem to be only mad at him because he's a rich boy. But they are actually angry about the fact that Scipio used them to make himself feel good by being looked up at and respected because he isn't being respected at home. And all this is so meagerly portrayed.Generally there's no fluency in between the scenes and plots and subplots this makes it look very messy the first time when you see it. When you actually watch the movie a second and third time and get over this disastrous screenplay and brilliant acting of the youngsters it does become an intriguing movie.I.M.H.O Richard Claus shouldn't have been the screen writer and I don't like his way of cinematic photography either (too little close ups and hardly any movement by the characters when they act). Another Screen writer and a better director would've made this now "B" movie into a blockbuster. All in all the story has all the ingredients and the actors are phenomenal.

I had read the Thief Lord, and really liked it, but the ending never really clicked with me. Suddenly, Venice seemed almost supernatural, which came completely out of the blue, and Scpio's decision to become grown-up (although you understood why it was done) seemed like a huge mistake. I had really enjoyed this book, until that part.But of course, when I saw that it was made into a movie, I had to see it. I was fully prepared to be completely disappointed with the movie, and complain that it was nothing like the book, but I was pleasantly surprised.The movie was absolutely wonderful! The story was summarized to the main plot very nicely and most of the dialogue seemed to come straight out of the book. The acting was superb. The soundtrack was great. And, most importantly it visually answered my questions.When Bo sees the creatures from the Merry-Go-Round, you actually believe Venice (and the Merry-Go-Round) has these magical powers. Also, I was more acceptant of Scipo's life-altering decision, after seeing how he contently fit in to the adult world (something that I thought was never done to my satisfaction in the book).Although, the movie is obviously a low-budget film. I found the special effects quite refreshing to today's computer-generated creatures. For some reason, I found it to be even more believable that way.There were only two problems I found with the movie. One was the lack of knowledge you had for the supporting characters. For instance, I didn't even get that Hornet had a crush on Prosper, until after it was said. I understand that you can't fit all of the character's history from the movie into the book, but a little would be nice.The second problem I had with the movie was that I didn't know about it until I saw it on DVD! I can only assume that it was because it didn't make enough money in the box office. My question is WHY?!? This is probably one of the best family films I have seen in a long time and would please adults and children alike. SO WHY DIDN'T THESE PEOPLE SEE IT! TO MAKE UP FOR THIS CRIME THAT YOU HAVE Committed ON YOURSELF, YOU MUST GO AND RENT THIS MOVIE. You won't regret it.

I disliked the movie. It was action-driven and not character driven, yet there is not so much action that this worked for this movie. I found it boring. The characters were not developed well, which was disappointing as they are so dynamic in the book, and also is disappointing from a movie perspective, because people like to have characters that they can connect to. A pet peeve I have is how they immediately reveal Scipio, while in the book he is a bit more of a mystery, always wearing his mask and dissapearing at night. Another problem, this time technical, was the sound editing was bad; it was not balanced. I had to constantly adjust the volume, and I know it is not just my TV/DVD player. The kids were cute. Too bad the movie was not well done.

This was a pretty good movie. I read the book as well, and it was much better. I personally expected Esther to be younger, but that's okay. Scipio and Prosper was each about to be 13, but in the movie Scipio is 15 and Prosper is 15. I liked the beginning scene when Prop and Bo are in the boat with the bike. One thing I liked was Hornet and Prosper at the end. They look so cute together. I wish there were more scenes with them together, and if you rent the DVD, there is a deleted scene with them talking about Prosper's mom. The cast was so cool. My two favorites are Rollo Weeks, who plays Scipio, and Alice Connor, who plays Hornet. All in all, this movie was pretty great.