Not a terrible film by all means, kind of an entertaining if middling one. The first film Arthur and the Invisibles wasn't that great(to me that is, you'll think differently), rather average with some good-animation, music and most acting and voices- and bad things like the story, pacing and some scripting, but it's still the best of the three. Revenge of Maltazard was rather messy, not really coming to life with poor humour and an ending that felt unfinished. This third and final film Arthur and the War of Two Worlds is an improvement on the second, but for this viewer was still left wanting. The animation is very good though, colourful and well-rendered, in fact the whole film does look lovely. Sure, Maltazard's appearance is rather scary for youngsters but it was one of the film's cleverest touches. The music is rousing and beautiful, with bouncy rhythms and melodies that stick in your head. Most of the acting and voice acting is fine as well. Freddie Highmore is still a very likable hero, while Mia Farrow is a compassionate grandmother figure and Selena Gomez is very charming as well as natural(Madonna in the first film to me was odd casting, and sounded too much like trying to sound young) and interacts very well with Highmore. Lou Reed is so much better and more involved than in Revenge of Maltazard, there he sounded bored, here he sounded creepy if just lacking the suavity that David Bowie brought to the character in the first film. It actually helps that Maltazard is better-utilised here. The grandfather is also funny and endearing, and the duel on the toy train is exciting, that, the exhilarating final half-hour and Maltazard undergoing plastic surgery are the highlights of the film. Jimmy Fallon is a little better, less irritating than before, but he's still not very funny. Neither is the slapstick, which is more juvenile and dumbed-down above anything else. The dialogue does feel bland and underwritten, and while the story has its moments and has its heart in the right place it does lack urgency and sometimes logic. The pacing comes alive in the final half-hour but mostly it's rather staid. The world of the minimoys is an attractive one, but not one that entirely draws you in, while the live-action sequences are still not as impressively written or staged. All in all, far from terrible and has some good things about it but not a sequel or final film of a trilogy that goes out on a bang, though not quite bad enough to be a whimper, more semi-whimper. 5/10 Bethany Cox
