Come Away

I was really ready to be transported, and really disappointed when I wasn't. It's a real shame, because there's a lot of talent in this film but it just doesn't work.

Assembled with scattershot ineptitude by the Brave director Brenda Chapman, it smacks of a Ken Loach project rebooted by Nickelodeon, but not as compelling as that sounds.

It never quite tumbles into Wonderland, but the ambition at play - and a top cast of supporting players - is just enough to let Come Away off the Hook.

The second word in the title should perhaps be replaced with "off it". Or maybe replace the first word with "go".

That it has so little new to say, and replaces spirited fantasy with an overbearing glumness, is just disappointing.

It's hard to muster much excitement for a movie as stiff and serious as this.

Yet, for all its ambition and manufactured charm, this lands as a rather lacklustre melodrama.

Angelina Jolie is at her usual best playing a grieving mother with restraint and poise, but it is David Oyelowo's fatherly emotions that will touch your heart.

The film is an interesting proposal for trying to create a crossover between the stories of Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland, and thus offer the viewer a new joint vision of both stories. [Full review in Spanish]

But parents be warned: despite attempts to blend Alice In Wonderland with Peter Pan and emphasise the power of a child's imagination, it has some pretty dark moments.