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Set in Italy and based on Cornelia Funke’s popular
childen’s novel “The Thief Lord” mixes in elements of Dickens
into the story of a masked 16 year old boy who cares for
orphans that live in a shuttered movie theater. Prosper
(Aaron Johnson) and Bo (Jasper Harris) are two orphaned
brothers separated by an indifferent aunt and uncle escape
to Venice because it was a city their mother loved and fall
under the protection of the Thief Lord (Rollo Weeks). When
the children are asked to help steal a wood carving shaped
like a wing they end up in the adventure of their lives.
***
A delightful children’s film that adults can watch
without feeling embarrassed, “The Thief Lord” moves at a
brisk and entertaining pace throughout its 99 minute run.
I’m at a loss as to why Fox chose to release this film direct-to-video
and not in theaters as there’s a shortage of fun, intelligent
and sensitive children’s movies that adults can take their
kids to and feel good about it. If they felt there was no
market for this film they should fire their marketing department—with
enough interest and build up in schools this film based
on a popular children’s novel could have done quite well
in the marketplace. Performances are strong all around with
the children occupying center stage with ease. The director
Richard Claus (“The Littlest Vampire”) fills every frame
with imaginative scenery and performances refusing to take
the easy way out when it comes to resolving some of the
story elements that need to be resolved. This isn’t a film
that takes a by the numbers approach instead Claus opts
to treat the audience with respect something that makes
for a rewarding and rich entertaining film.
Image & Sound:
Fox has opted to release as a flipper disc with widescreen
on one side and a full screen version on the other. Both
transfers look the same with the rich photography of Venice
looking rich and marvelous. The image quality is crisp and
sharp doing justice to the marvelous cinematography. The
5.1 audio mix is alive with detail and dialogue comes across
crystal clear. ---
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