Harold and the Purple Crayon

Giving this an 5/10 rating

Would of been better as an animated feature, perhaps, but the story and characters are so bad, it would not of made any difference, it feels like a very bad Saturday morning 1980's cartoon.

Poor old Zachary Levi and Zooey Deschanel are the only good things in this, and they act their socks off, but can't do much with this limp film. There is no magic from the rest of the poor cast, with only great VFX that are the best thing in this. And I like Purple, but not in here.

Levi is in real danger of being typecast if he keeps playing big kids, he can do much more, Deschanel must of been passing by, and they just grabbed her, waste of great actors. The idea for the plot is fine, but it's so bland and tame, even a 5 year old would be offended by this tripe.

You have intelligent stuff as 'Inside out 2' still showing, and Sony waste our time with this. Really!

This needed to be super good, if it wants to be respect the source material, which this misses by miles, better off and cheaper to buy some crayons instead, more fun too.

I took my 9 year old nephew, he has adhd, can be hard to please, fidgeted all the way through, then when the credits rolled, hugged me and told me he loved it.

As a rule, I avoid kids films like the plague. I didn't hate it, at all.

The acting, animation, script and cinematography were pretty decent, as was the plot. It made me laugh at least three times (very hard to do) - it has some excellent morals/themes around loss, self worth, forgiveness and friendship. It's a traditional heroic journey/quest. It's a format well known, so we knew what we were getting. The crayon is used in some really creative ways, getting the characters out of some sticky situations.

I think a lot of films these days, especially in the few kids films I've endured, are very busy, loud, and complex when they don't need to be. This was simple and fun. There's also some in jokes for the grown ups, that was appreciated.

It definitely got laughs, and it seemed like the kids leaving this movie were happy.

Would love an 18+ Harold and his purple crayon. Just putting that into the universe.

This is a fantasy movie based on a popular book. The movie starts with just line drawing animation. Harold and his two imaginary friends, a Moose and a Porcupine. Whatever Harold can imagine, then draw an outline with his purple crayon, becomes reality. Then Harold draws a door with his magical purple crayon, opens it, and finds himself in the real world of Providence, Rhode Island.

Zachary Levi has been a favorite of ours for a number of years, he is the real world Harold. He knows nothing about the real world so he immediately has to learn how it works and how people communicate.

Next the Moose and the Porcupine make their way through the door, each takes on a human form.

The movie is just made for entertainment, however there is a good message embedded - to never quit dreaming and never limit yourself. The good person that befriends them is Zooey Deschanel as Terry and her young son. The bad guy that creates problems is Jemaine Clement as Gary who desperately wants Terry but she wants no part of him.

My wife and I watched it at home, on DVD from our public library. Just pleasant, quirky entertainment after Saturday evening steak and wine dinner, with chocolate cake of course!

It was unique that they decided to use an adult version of Harold and Zachary Levi did an amazing job being that grown up child. OfCourse Levi has proved that he can play a man child as Shazam so not really the biggest range in acting, which is great cause I thought it was charming and funny.

The dude from Flight of the Concords plays Gary who was actually a perfect villain for a semi children's story and I do mean Semi. Some of the jokes in the film felt a little too grown up. I know children will get them but not sure if you should tell them.

A similar movie came out this summer called If, but i thought this movie's kind heart had a lot more value to it so i pick this over IF.

Kids, wife and myself all enjoyed Harold and The Purple Crayon.

I understand some people who have a close connection to the book aren't thrilled with the film. I don't know the book that well, so I was able to go into the movie with an open mind.

As a standalone story, it stands up as a fun and humorous feel-good kids film with great imagination.

Levi does a good job humanizing a very outrageous premise. He blends over the top behaviour you'd expect from a cartoon character with sincere heart. He really seems right in his wheelhouse here. Reynolds and Howery as Porcupine and Moose are great fun. And Clement is delightful as a funny antagonist you really enjoy rooting against.

As an adult viewer, you will certainly have to suspend your disbelief - even more than you would for other family fantasy films (the way they execute the leap from the "book world" to the "real world" was even more outrageous that I'd ever have expected) and the plot develops so fast it's hard to keep up with the leaps in logic. With that said, it settles in to a fun l, easy to consume, adventure.

My kids loved it and look forward to seeing it again. My wife, who is an educator familiar with the book, liked it very much as well. For me, it was a fun movie to enjoy with my family at the end of a school week.