Reviews

I cannot understand why this film has an average 3.0 rating. No, the cgi sequences aren't up to Hollywood blockbuster standards, the score is somewhat minimalistic, and some of the acting performances are a little under par, but this is essentially a heartwarming story of a girl who feels pity for an African street boy who finds refuge in the fantasy dream world of his African ancestors, and follows him there, where she discovers a place full of talking animals and magical spirits who help her in her search. The film is largely constructed as a dream sequence, something I feel it does extremely well, and is filled with beautiful images of Namibian landscape and wildlife.Eva Gerretsen is convincing in her role, as are the speaking animals. The film has a lightly moralistic tone (without writing spoilers, big game hunting is put in a negative light-hope you all agree with that-). We watched this film with our 9 year old twins, (boy+girl) and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. it is a wonderful introduction to the beauty of Africa, the importance of empathy amongst mankind, and is filled with beautiful animals both fantastic and real. No orcs, no battles, no horrific images (there is one fire spirit that I was concerned about who might be frightening to a 5-year-old, but he has a very friendly voice, and does nothing but help the girl). I've rated the film 10 because it really doesn't deserve the 3 average it has at the moment (I would normally rate it as a 7 or 8). It's a shame that so many films get rated on their technical, rather than story content.Thoroughly recommended as an intelligent and didactic children's film.