My Review of 'Bridge to Terabithia'

Bridge to Terabithia is a family movie geared towards kids that came out back in 2007. I would never have heard of this movie if it wasn't for my girlfriend. She told me that she loved it when she watched it years back. I didn't see a reason why I shouldn't have watched it. So I chose to broaden my horizons and see something different for a change.

For a family movie, I thought that the movie was more complicated than typical family movies I've seen. There were a few themes that surround this movie and some of them were a little on the heavier side; a little heavier than one would expect from a family movie.

It starred a then-unknown Josh Hutcherson, who played the main character Jess. He's a loner kid in grade school. I don't think his loneliness was a choice. He's trying to survive school and his own family life. His family is struggling financially and he feels isolated because he's not only a loner at school but he's in his family as well.

He soon meets a new girl in the school Leslie. She's played by AnnaSophia Robb. The whole atmosphere of the movie changes when she enters the picture. Leslie is a character that is bullied just as Jess but she doesn't take crap from anyone. She tries to teach this to Jess but it's really not in his nature to follow this route. Instead she teaches him about imagination. The two escape their regular days by pretending they live in some magical world where they are only limited by their own imaginations.

The two build a strong friendship and are pretty much inseparable throughout the movie. They tackle some of the issues that happen in school and at home together. Without spoiling too much of the movie, some tragic events happened that will shake the foundation of the movie. I knew something was going to happen but I didn't expect the particular twist in this movie to happen. It's curious because there was tons of foreshadowing that led to the event happening.

I would say that the movie was well done and enjoyable. It is definitely weird to see kids using their imaginations to play around. The craziest thing is that none of the kids had electronics with them. I can see how a lot of people would think that this will feel totally out of date. Kids nowadays might be turned off at the thought of this but I think it can still resonate with them. The themes can still resonate with kids today.

All of the characters were played out with tons of charm and charisma but there are times when they seemed cartoon like. That's to be expected from a family film. Again, this movie came out back in 2007 so you'll have to excuse some of the special effects as they have become dated but still not too bad.

Still, it feels like a great time movie to watch because the characters bring up a great sense of innocence. Adults will relate to the film because it'll bring them back to a time when they had tons of free time to use their imaginations to entertain themselves. It's a film about love. Different types of love. They also do a lot to describe different types of losses. I think this would be a great family movie to watch with kids because kids will bring up questions to do with these themes. It might help parents talk about these complicated subjects with their kids.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie and I think that this movie can be a great aid for parents to talk to their kids about complicated matters. I would give this movie an 8 out of 10. It's enjoyable for everyone. Some families will benefit from watching this movie together.