The Portable Door

I'm baffled a bit by the other reviews and was nearly going to not give this movie a go but I'm so glad I did! I watched with the whole family and even though it was longer than most movies my kids would sit through, they loved it.

It was so odd in times that it actually made the movie more fun to watch- there were several times we were laughing out loud at the fantastic weirdness of it all!

I'm someone who watches a movie almost every night and visits the cinema weekly and found this a really enjoyable watch so I would definitely give it a go if you're thinking about it and don't worry, all those things that seem odd in the beginning end up making sense in the end!

A great film - well done!

P.s I didn't find the movie that dark, there are a couple of scenes that might be a bit scary that my youngest (5) was a little worried about initially, but ended up being fine with.

Paul Carpenter is desperately looking for a job. After a most unusual interview he ends up hired in a company, but he neither knows what they do nor does he even know his duties. Then, two lowly newcomers , Paul (Patrick Gibson) and Sophie (Sophie Wilde), at J. W. Wells and Co., a mysterious firm based in London, uncover a plot by their CEO to disrupt the ancient magical world with modern corporate practices. Nasty villains Humphrey Wells (Christoph Waltz) , the CEO of the company, and middle manager Dennis Tanner (Sam Neill) are disrupting the world of magic by bringing modern corporate strategy to ancient magical practices

There are some similarities to 'Harry Potter' and ¨Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them¨sagas in this solid fantasy with adventures, magic and imagination. ¨The Portable Door¨ is the first book in Tom Holt's J. W. Wells & Co. Series, made up of eight books: The Portable Door (2003), In Your Dreams (2004), Earth, Air, Fire and Custard (2005), You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But it Helps (2006), The Better Mousetrap (2008), May Contain Traces of Magic (2009), Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages (2011), The Eight Reindeer of the Apocalypse (2023). Following a fascinating first 30 minutes the movie loses impetus as the writer struggles to spin it out towards two-hour length. Patrick Gibson and Sophie Wilde star in this magical film playing two interns become increasingly aware that their mysterious employers are anything but conventional, discovering the true agenda of the vast corporation; alongside the winner of two Oscars for best supporting actor Christoph Waltz (Django unchained) and Sam Neil (Jurassic Park) performing two charismatic villain chiefs. This likeable quartet of protagonists are well accompanied by a wonderful supporting cast, such as: Damon Herriman , Demi Harman, Rachel House, Miranda Otto, Chris Pang, Arka Das, and Jessica De Gouw.

It displays a thrilling and enjoyable musical score by Benjamin Speed. Likewise , a brilliant and colorful cinematography by Donald McAlpine. Along with stunning state-of-art special effects and creatures from Story Bridge Films and The Jim Henson Company. The motion picture was professionally directed by Jeffrey Walker though borrows heavily from other known stories. Craftsman Jeffrey Walker at his debut feature film, but he has directed a number of episodes of popular TV series, such as: The Artful Dodger, Bones, The Clearing , Blue heeler, H2o, Lambs of God, LA to Vegas, The Clearing, Home and away, Dance academy, The Elephant Princess, The young rock, Wild Boys , Angry Boys, among others. Rating: 6.5/10. Well worth watching.

I haven't read the book so I can't judge this movie on that basis. It's a nice looking film with nice photography, there's no problem with editing or pacing. Its what you'd expect from this type of film. The cast was suitably solid but for me the highlight was Sam Neill: His was a stand-out performance, an absolute delight. He just stole every scene he was in and was loads of fun. However, the movie would have been better if not for serious problems with the sound mix. The music is so overwhelmingly loud it drowns out the dialogue to the point where you're struggling to discern what is being said over the sheer loudness of the music. You might as well turn subtitles on. How does such a serious blunder occur? It seriously detracts from what otherwise might have been a more enjoyable movie.

What fun. An enchanting film. An adult fairy tale and boy meets girl rolled up into one.

Paul's very bad day leads to an unlikely job opening at the prestigious, mysterious company, J Wells. He quickly becomes a favorite of the boss, but no one else on the hiring committee has anything good to say about him. As he proves his metal to both his new coworker and the company at large, we are taking on a fantastic journey. Imaginative sets help create magical scenes.

Christopher Walt makes a great bad guy. The cast includes Sam Neill, who always delivers. I'm sure the primary actors are up and comers, but I'm just not familiar with them from earlier movies.

Enjoy!

I read a lot of reviewers comparing this movie with Harry Potter but I don't agree. The story is totally different, much weirder which was a good thing I thought. The only thing they have in common is that it is all fantasy and in this genre The Portable Door is an entertaining movie. It takes a while to understand what's going on but it's never annoying. Christopher Waltz always delivers, never disappoints. Sam Neil was also good in playing his strange character. The whole cast did a decent job making this movie interesting to follow. I can see some sequels in the future if it catches on. I'm up for it.