Roald Dahl’s The Witches (2020)

Robert Zemekis’ reimagining of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s story is a catalogue of hits and misses. “Un film de Robert Zemekis: never knowingly undercooked.”

A Wrinkle in Time (2018)

Stop press! Disney delivers! This family-friendly adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s much-loved children’s book may be a throwback to more innocent times and more innocent movies, but with glorious visuals, top performances by adults and children alike, and a stripped-down, quest narrative, it’s all about family, innit! And nobody gets shot, stabbed or set on fire. Y-A dystopias take note.

Ava DuVernay’s heartfelt direction and multi-racial cast turns a cliched plot (three misfit children go it alone across the universe to seek a missing parent) into something deeper. There’s genuine threat and genuine joy and the running time flies by.

Paddington (2014)

Producer David Hayman’s adaptation of Michael Bond’s children’s book may be more Harry Potter than anything else, but that doesn’t matter. Hayman’s oddly retro-anachronistic take on the bear from darkest Peru is a joy, a delight, a treasure.

Ben Wishaw (Skyfall, Cloud Atlas) voices the innocent-abroad, Paddington, not only remade as a slapstick hero after Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton, but possibly the most polite movie hero in screen history. Everyone will want to look after this bear.

Paddington (2014) [Guest Post]

They had better get this right, thought this under-the-bedclothes torch-lit-reading child with fond memories of the adventures of Michael Bond’s bear from Peru – and they so have…

The film has PG rating, which caused some scorn on release. It’s terrific family fun, with cross dressing, innuendo, dangerous stunts and lots and lots of mess in the finest panto tradition.

We’re in an alternate universe London, a city of candy coloured Georgian terraces where the bears can talk and the Geographers hang out in a steampunk palace. It’s lovely to look at, with beautiful state of the art CGI bears.