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The Tale of Despereaux (2008) Certificate U

The Tale of Despereaux
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Rated 3.0 stars
Average rating
(62%)
 
Starring: Matthew Broderick | Robbie Coltrane | Frances Conroy | Tony Hale | Ciarán Hinds | Dustin Hoffman | Richard Jenkins | Kevin Kline | Frank Langella | Christopher Lloyd
Director: Sam Fell, rob stevenhagen
Studio: UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK VIDEO RENTAL
Run time: 87 mins
Collections: 100 Hot Hits | 100 Most Wanted
Genres: Action/Adventure | Animated | Comedy
Languages: English
Released: April 20, 2009

"The Tale of Despereaux" tells the story of several unlikely heroes: Despereaux, a brave mouse banished to the dungeon for speaking with a human; Roscuro, a good-hearted rat who loves light and soup, but is exiled to darkness; Pea, a Princess in a gloomy castle who is prisoner to her father's grief; and Mig, a servant girl who longs to be a Princess, but is forced to serve the jailer. Tiny and graced with oversized ears, Despereaux was born too big for his little world. Refusing to live his life cowering, he befriends a Princess named Pea and learns to read (rather than eat) books--reveling in stories of knights, dragons and fair maidens. Banished from Mouseworld for being more man than mouse, Despereaux is rescued by another outcast, Roscuro, who also wants to hear the tales. But when the Princess dismisses Roscuro's friendship, he becomes the ultimate rat and plots revenge with fellow outsider Mig. After Pea is kidnapped, Despereaux discovers he is the only one who can rescue her--and that even the tiniest mouse can find the courage of a knight in shining armor. In this tale of bravery, forgiveness and redemption, one small creature will teach a kingdom that it takes only a little light to show the truth: what you look like doesn't equal what you are.

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Rating of 4 stars out of 5
Time Out

Could this be the best film ever made about a national soup ban? Aardman alumni Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhagen bring...

Highest rated reviews

21 out of 21 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 4 stars
Not the usual

A Customer from Worthing, England, 30th December, 2008

Not what you've come to expect from a modern animated family film, which may put some off if you're after non stop laughs. My daughter (5) and i enjoyed it very much though. Lovely to look at, lots of excitement, and plenty to think about too. Slower pace than most but maybe that's not such a bad thing. Highly recommended.

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10 out of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 0 stars
Grim, derivative & tedious

A Customer from 2nd row from the back, Lincolnshire, 26th April, 2009

I liked Ratatouille as much as anyone but this is nowhere near as good. The plot is pathetic but worse, its telling is so fragmented as to make the film screamingly frustrating to watch. Just when you start to identify with the hero you find out he isn't the hero at all and you've got to try to transfer your allegiance to another character. The style of the animation is yawningly similar to other recent releases. The central character is intended to be engagingly cute but in actuality is just grotesque.

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9 out of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 3 stars
Sweet

BibiandPaddington from from Greenford, 25th April, 2009

This film is very sweet - alot like 'Ratatouille', so if you like that, you'll love this.

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4 out of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 0 stars
Tale of despereaux

stokepaul from , 14th May, 2009

Me and my wife watched the dvd of tales of despereaux and all in all we thought it was ok suitable for the younger age bracket.

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Most recent reviews

Rated 4 stars
Good kids movie

Secretsausagedog from , 13th March, 2010

Great movie for older kids and parents alike, alll the different stories tie in together and you see how one persons actions and reactions can lead to a whole chain of events. The drawing of the charaters and the animation is very good and the story is excellent. The voices are good, dissapoointed and how little Emma Watson was in it even though a lot of the film advertisement was based on her role in the film. Brilliant movie for the whole family.

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Rated 3 stars
not as good as expected

A Customer from llanwrda,wales, 22nd February, 2010

i know this isnt a new film but when the kids saw thetrailers for it when it was released they were very excited to see it, however when they did watch it it wasnt as funny as expected and to be honest its more of a little girl film than boys but hey ho it took up an hour and a half of half term lol

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Rated 4 stars
good

A Customer from Stonehaven, 13th February, 2010

i rented this 4 my daughter, shes 12. i ended up watching it with her. we both enjoyed it!!!

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Rated 3 stars
Funny and enjoyed

A Customer from Bradford, 9th February, 2010

My 2 daughters enjoyed this film very much. It was nice and funny.

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