Harold and the Purple Crayon

This movie is similar to the movie IF but slightly different, won't explain that because that will spoil the movie. This movie was a little bit entertaining because the people (who created this movie), creative skills are spot on artistically good. It is more visually appealing and contains more action, movement, tries to provoke excitement & energy emotions out of the audience. It is very dynamic and makes it look like all the actors involved in this movie are not only high on sugar , adult sugar ;) , but are very similar to dogs who are having zoomies (running extremely fast around or onto objects over & over again). It is worth looking but it is not that exciting as the ads & promotion about it, claim it is.

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.

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.

LIKES:

Cute

Charmingly Funny

Good Lessons

Loved the Imagination

Feels Like a Kids Book Coming to Life

Fun Music

Zachary Levi

DISLIKES:

A Little Too Kiddy

Odd At Times

Zooey Deschanel

Trying To Be Something Wow and Coming Off Bland

Moved Too Quickly

Summary

Harold and the Purple Crayon is a sequel to the beloved book that somehow is just as charming as the piece of literature. A fantastic and fun movie for families, it holds charming comedy, innocent jokes, and a few adult jokes that are easily G-rated to make this enjoyable for all ages. This sequel takes all of the innocence of the movie and unleashes it onto the real world and in doing so provides plenty of lessons for the world to review and hopefully learn. That heartfelt presentation adds this quaint and enjoyable tone, only amplified by the feel-good music that accompanies many of the "epic" bouts of crayon catastrophe. The imagination of the film is intense in terms of that elaborate wildness of youth and I loved how much they mirrored the inner spirit of a child in the way the drawings transitioned into the items they "semi-resembled". For me, Levi is the star of the show though. Like so many of his roles, he just has a way of unleashing his full potential into the role, giving it this odd man-child that is enjoyable rather than sad or annoying. When combined with the others, he manages to bring a dynamic portrayal of the character without seeming to try too hard.

If only the full imagination was unleashed in this film. A magical purple crayon can create a lot of magic, but it didn't quite craft the masterpiece I think they were shooting for. The innocent humor stays a little too juvenile in tone, lacking the finesse, breaks, and planning that I like in my PG-rated films. The odd humor and awkward styles are perfect for laughs, but in terms of the perfect movie are missing some of the composure that I've seen in other films. Deschanel didn't do much for me outside of a few laughs and some sparkling piano work but feels very underutilized as the source of sarcastic jokes and antagonism to Harold's optimism. And with a short run time and presenting so many things, I think the movie fell flat in terms of standing out as that awesome movie of the year. And though there are some great finishes and a narrative that holds a few heart-tugging lines... it still falls short of the gold for me.

Thus, with all the factors coming in, my recommendation is to catch this one at home with the family to optimize your time and money. As for the scores, here they are:

Adventure/Animation/Comedy/Family/Fantasy: 7.0 Movie Overall: 6.0.