Charlotte's Web

It's cute, funny and the animals are gorgeous, but I can't help wishing that the filmmakers of Charlotte's Web had not opted to make this new adaptation a live action film. Charlotte's kindness as she dances her rituals and spins her webs to make the farmer think Wilbur is special, does more than that. ... Full Review

Boasting impressive effects work and a superb cast, this is a treat for kids, but adults may find it a little slow in places. However, the voice cast are uniformly excellent, with Buscemi probably the stand-out (his scenes deliver some much-needed laughs). ... Full Review

Boasting impressive effects work and a superb cast, this is a treat for kids, but adults may find it a little slow in places. However, the voice cast are uniformly excellent, with Buscemi probably the stand-out (his scenes deliver some much-needed laughs). ... Full Review

The close-ups of the computer-animated Charlotte are also a problem: The animators have given her eyes as big and consciously adorable as those of the cutest space alien. In both "Ant Bully" and "Charlotte's Web," her animation characterizations have lacked shading and variety and rhythmic change-ups. ... Full Review

This live action animated film is very good. Her warm demeanor and portrayal of Charlotte as being sensible and intelligent made the spider one half of the heart of this film. The cast is simply amazing in "Charlottes Web. ... Full Review

Critiquing a very good film can often be more challenging (as we get into a "matter of taste" territory), but there are still basic elements which can be identified. While Charlotte's Web is technically proficient -- superior even --, I was never drawn into the story. ... Full Review

Walden's interpretation of Charlotte's Web is one of the most pleasant family movies in a while with a good mix of humour and emotion, though it's a little more successful in the latter Dakota Fanning is wonderfully effective at getting us to care about the situation, while the voice casting is imaginative all round, Julia Roberts bringing grace to the outcast spider. ... Full Review

Directed by Gary Winick; starring Dakota Fanning, Kevin Anderson and the voices of Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Sam Shepard Children should enjoy Charlotte's Web, the second screen version of the classic 1952 children's book by the great New Yorker essayist and literary stylist EB White. ... Full Review

Charlotte's Web, though it celebrates the special ingenuity of the animals who contrive to save Wilbur, is the opposite of a film like The Incredibles. Eventually, she has to surrender him to her uncle, who places him in a stable full of geese (Oprah Winfrey), snobby sheep (John Cleese), haughty cows (Kathy Bates and Reba McEntire) and a cowardly horse (Robert Redford). ... Full Review

Beautifully shot, wonderfully paced and well-voiced and acted, 'Charlotte's Web' is a hugely enjoyable adaptation of the classic EB White novel. The original story, first published in 1952, has sold 43m copies since its release and is by some reckonings the most popular children's paperback of all time. ... Full Review