FIVE CHILDREN AND IT is the perfect way to trash the memory of the classic Edith Nesbit novel by turning it into something soulless, trivial, and trashy. Although the premise of the the film and the novel are the same, both veer off in very different directions and it has to be said that this bears little relation to the characters or events of the book's storyline.Firstly, the setting has been changed to WW1 from the Crimean War; I'm not sure why, except maybe people don't know or care about the Crimean War these days. Instead of the likable, inventive children of the Nesbit story, we get a bunch of screamers, whiners, and - in the case of Freddie Highmore - oddly creepy kids and the stock fat cousin character who of course turns out to be evil. God knows what all that monster stuff in the basement laboratory is supposed to be about.The famous Psammead, voiced by the irritating Eddie Izzard and animated via rubbishy CGI, is a far cry from the excellent puppet utilised in the old BBC TV series version of the tale. Elsewhere, we get horrible CGI dinosaurs, CGI flying people (to cash in on HARRY POTTER, of course), and dumb comedy in the form of fart and burp jokes. The director is so inexperienced he even uses cheesy slow motion in the sentimental interludes. Elsewhere, viewers are stuck watching the likes of Kenneth Branagh and Zoe Wanamaker mugging for all their worth. Stick with the BBC show!

Basically Five Children and It is the story of a group of kids who have three wishes granted by a strange creature called the sand fairy. If your kid is two years old they may enjoy it, but overall it's pretty bad. Boring soundtrack, lousy acting and a rather dull plot make this a movie I wouldn't recommend. There is one good thing about it, no sex jokes or fart jokes, but aside from that it's a pretty pathetic film. That being said, it is a children's movie, so to truly decide whether or not your kid would enjoy it you'd have to make that decision on your own. This is just my opinion. I'd recommend Lilo & Stitch (2002), Paperhouse (1988) or Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World (1973).

My wife and I watched this movie with our 3 young children and all of us were enthralled. No double entandres, no evil monsters, no four letter words, just great family entertainment and values.We only wish we had found it sooner. In an age when Hollywood feels that there must be sex, violence, foul language or "adult" subplots, this film stands out for it's honesty and proves that a great film and a great story doesn't need to be trashed up.It may not be true to the book, but who cares...it's a movie. And a fun and entertaining one that the entire family can watch and enjoy...including grandma.

I saw the poster and possibly a trailer for this film that obviously appealed to the kiddies more than the mummies and daddies, and it looked pretty terrible, so I tried it. Basically five children, Robert (Freddie Highmore), Cyril (Jonathan Bailey), Anthea (Jessica Claridge), Jane (Poppy Rogers) and baby Lamb (twins Alec and Zak Muggleton), are evacuated to the countryside during The First World War. They are taken to the mansion of their Uncle Albert (Kenneth Branagh), along with his mischievous son Horace (Alexander Pownall) and housekeeper Martha (Zoë Wanamaker). Given a set of rules to follow and many chores during their stay there is no room to have fun, that is until they enter a certain room of the house they are not allowed, and go through a locked door. This door leads them to an secret empty beach, and it is there that they meet the ancient, ugly and irritable Psammead, or sand fairy referred to only as It (Eddie Izzard). As he is a fairy, he has the power to grant one wish per day, but this wish lasts only until sunset, and the children use this to their advantage when possible. They are unaware though that some of these wishes do not work out the way they expected, so they have to word them very carefully. While Horace is getting suspicious of his five relatives' recent behaviours, the one wish Robert wants in particular from It is for their Father (Alex Jennings) to return safe from the war. Horace does try to be nasty towards It, but in the end they say goodbye to him on his birthday, and their Father does return to them to be happy. Also starring Brassed Off's Tara Fitzgerald as Mother, John Sessions as Peasemarsh and Norman Wisdom as Nesbitt. I can sort of agree without the voice of Eddie Izzard the film would be even worse, but it doesn't make it any better, it is too cheesy, too predictable, and it's not magical even with the moments with special effects, a disappointing family period fantasy adventure. It won the BAFTA for the Anthony Asquith Award for Best New British Composer for Jane Antonia Cornish. Adequate!