It has officially been LONG over a year since I posted this (I was trying to be funny, please note. Yep rusty even then; I'm just surprised I'm secure enough to post the link to it...) about The Secret of Moonacre. And up till a week ago, that was all I knew. (Can you see there's a running theme in these blog posts of late?) As I've matured (oh God, I used that word), I've become less and less interested in the actual plot of movies and novels. I get more pleasure out of a watch or read when I don't know what's coming. Its then that the plot and suspense intrigue and excite me.
And so Secret of Moonacre just was; It was that beautiful, artful, looking movie I knew nothing about and couldn't seem to get my hands on. And then a blockbuster when out of business, and I picked it up for 7 bucks. Even though my previous storyline is, well, basically -- okay, half -- wrong, the actual movie is pretty fantasy fantastic. It has black lions, unicorns that live in the sea, and a set of sea pearls that could make any girl jealous.
There isn't much depth to Moonacre, and the use of actors in double roles can just be confusing, but there is no lack of acting or lack of fantastic costumes. Which really, isn't that what most fantasy movies are anyway? The Summary follows:
When 13 year old Maria Merryweather's father dies, leaving her orphaned and homeless, she is forced to leave her London life to go and live with Sir Benjamin, her eccentric uncle, at the mysterious Moonacre Manor. Soon Maria finds herself in a crumbling world torn apart by the hatred of an ancient feud with the dark and sinister De Noir family. Maria, guided by an unlikely mix of allies, must unearth the secrets of the past before the 5000th moon rises and Moonacre disappears into the sea forever.
Movies like Moonacre I judge on four points: star power/acting, visuals and costumes, plot creativity, and overall success in storytelling. Moonacre scores high in acting (primarily for Dakota Blue Richards and Ioan Gruffudd) and visuals, however, the plot had unneeded complexities in places it should have been simple and failed to capitalize on places that needed some complexity. Overall the movie was enjoyable and had a fitting hero/princess success story. While its a movie I'm glad I waited to find, instead of spending $30 to have it shipped, I'm very glad its now in my library.