Silver et le livre des rêves

Normally I like a taut 90 minute-ish film, but I could have done with this being a bit longer. There's little to no characterisation, making it hard to understand the villains' motivations, or root for the good guys. I had more questions than answers about the mechanics of the dream world at the end too. Tonally it's odd as well - at first I thought it was a kids' film, but there's loads of effing and jeffing. Also, all the 'kids' have tattoos - what's happening there? (Or maybe I just got old.) It does have some very pretty visuals, but that's about the only thing I enjoyed. It just didn't come together for me.

German school girl Liv is forced to relocate to London, along with her sister, when her mother remarries. On her first night there she has a strange dream; in it she encounters a group of boys who were taking part in a ritual in a graveyard. On her first day at her new school she discovers the boys are real and attend the same school. She learns that the boys are in possession of a book that explains how to enter other people's dreams. It also explains how a group of four boys and a maiden may use it to make a dream come true. Inevitably Liv is invited to become that maiden. They perform the ritual not realising there is a catch. A catch that could be deadly for Liv. Will she be able to unravel the puzzle before it is too late and just who can she trust?

I have not read the book on which this is based, and judging by other reviews that may be a good thing as far as enjoying the film goes. The story is solid enough. It wastes no time getting into the action. Similarly it doesn't take too long before Liv, and the viewer, learns of the danger and its potentially lethal outcome. There is a good sense of paranoia as the list of people Liv thinks may be out to harm her increases. There are some decent twists and turns along the way. The look of the dream scenes in good; sometimes it is obvious other times less so. The cast, none of whom I recall seeing in anything before, does a solid job. Overall I wouldn't say this was a must see but passed ninety minutes well enough; I suspect it will appeal more to the YA market.

This is a story for teen-aged girls. I don't say that as a criticism, but to set expectations. I got half-way thru it and had to quit. The story is too simple, with no real backstory, and too saccharin for most adults. It could use a dose of darkness to up the age appeal - even Dr Who does that in it's modern incarnation.

I do think it is well produced and well acted by the young adults actors. It has generally good visuals and not cheap CGI. Parts of the dialog are in German without subtitles so I had to watch with closed caption.

Checkout The Magicians for an example of an adult-oriented fantasy magic story.

I've read the book more then 100 Times and so I know every detail. To be honest I think the director of the movie never read the book because not even 1 detail is like the book. The entire Plot of the Movie is different. If I hadn't this emotional connection to the Book I would give 1 Star even that the Movie is nothing like the Book. Was it to hard to stick to the Book like why is Liv's dad death and not living in Germany. An really Graysons wish being to be Students President what a joke. I am actually sad about how nothing from the book is adapted and Characters are just not there even my favourite character Lotti is just not there.

So Silver and the Book of Dreams was pretty awesum, to be honest. The visuals were stunnin, bringin the fantasy world to life in a captivatin way. The cast did a grate job portraying the characters, making them feel real.

The story was very good, keepin me engaged throughout. The cinematography and special effects were impressive adding to the overall story in a good way. My favourite part was was the main girl Livs final moment in her sisters draem. I don't want to spoil anythin for anyone, but it's a nice moment, made me cry when watchin it.

All but one of my friends enjoyed it too. But hey, different strokes for different folks.