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With the endless parade of fantastical creatures from fantastical worlds marching through cinemas over the past few years it'd be easy to pigeon hole Bridge to Terabithia as just another book adaptation greenlit by a panicked studio exec not wanting to miss the boat.  Like the Lord of the Rings and the Narnias of the world the film has a hefty pedigree stemming from a popular children's book by Katherine Paterson that enchanted sprogs way back in 1977, it even borrows the term Terabithia from C.S. Lewis himself.  But it also shares with Narnia the production company Walden Media who now deliver a satisfying fantasy drama instead of the empty spectacle that the aforementioned proved to be.  Here the effects take a back seat and the film is a poignant tale of growing up; a fun adventure but one that never holds back on the darker side of childhood.

The story concerns two young children, Jesse and Leslie, played by Hutcherson and Robb, who are outsiders at school but also discover they are neighbours out in the sticks.  Jesse has a henpecked home life thanks to four sisters and a blue collar father (Patrick) always battling the mounting debt while Leslie is the new girl.   She has cooler parents who are authors but she's equally maligned.  In a secluded area of the forest the pair quickly dream-up the magical land of Terabithia, whose inhabitants, from a huge troll to the Dark Master, are informed by their real problems with bullies and family.  Their refuge allows them to explore their creative sides while plotting how to make their lives bearable.  But tragedy is only round the corner and proves to be the biggest test of all on the road to adulthood.

Without revealing too much about the story let's just say it's of the My Girl variety but before parents balk at taking their kids to see it death is an integral part of Bridge to Terabithia and carries an important message about how to rebuild a life when it's been shattered.  The book itself was for the author's son to help him through the grieving process and the film is equally heart-wrenching yet uplifting, largely down to the superbly understated cast.  Both Hutcherson and Robb have come from very cartoonish fantasies (Zathura and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory respectively) yet here they display down-to-earth wholesomeness with refreshing normality and not like the usual Playmobil kids from some Hollywood cloning facility.  With careful plotting and restrained use of special effects, though when used they are stunning courtesy of WETA, the story is told from their young viewpoint and with their great imagination even a hunt for Dad's keys becomes a thrilling battle.

Despite a couple of cheesy moments, the soundtrack leaves a lot to be desired and Leslie's parents seem to live in a Kodak advert, Bridge to Terabithia is a gem of a movie waiting to be uncovered by growing minds.  Unfortunately the trailer may mark it as a casualty of distributors not knowing what sort of tone to pitch the movie and plays a rather underhanded con "ooooh look, isn't Terbithia pretty�" which is something the film is constantly avoiding.  A fantasy, like any other film, should remain grounded with its characters and luckily Csupo, who began his career doing much the same in the animated worlds of Rugrats and The Simpsons, keeps the audience enveloped in the pair's growing pains.  With a hefty dose of morals mixed in; bullies are people too and echoing throughout "the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing", it teaches that the rewards are there in life if you're prepared to put in the effort no matter how hard it gets.  Even ten hours of Harry Potter doesn't come close to achieving these weighty themes making Bridge to Terabithia a rare thing; a children's movie for children.