Guardians Of The Crown

Title: Guardians Of The Crown (12)

Year: 2014

Running Time: 85 minutes

Director: Colin Downey

Cast: Lorcan Melia (Matthew), Natalia Kostrzewa (Geldren White Witch), Emma Eliza Regan (Alice)

Notes: Also known as The Shadows.

Rating: 1

Thoughts:   Nine-year-old Matthew enters a magical world where an evil Queen seeks an ancient crown. He must resist her magic and find a way back home.

The opening narration, combined with the depiction of the shadow people, feels more like something from The Moomins rather than a convincing film. This opening intro also takes an age and I've almost lost interest before the boy appears.

The boy and his gran then play out a wooden arrival scene, and it just seems to be slipping further downhill. They sort of bring in some faux horror as the boy discovers the path to the fantasy world with all of these opening passages incredibly pedestrian.

But that doesn't quite prepare us for the absolute dullness of Matthew entering the tunnel to the magical land, where the back story is told in a painfully slow way. Eighteen hours (or was it minutes?) in, and I've lost interest.

Too much of this tired narrative plays out like the text of a ZX Spectrum RPG from the 1980s, and there is no grip on the story and no tension. There's plenty more that's wrong with this but it's hardly worth bothering detailing it because it is so dull.

The fantasy world woodsman with the modern boots, the simple shadows that look like low budget rather than clever storytelling, the other "effects".

And the sleeve looked so enticing.