A talented voice cast with the likes of Jeremy Irons, Kate Winslet, Jane Horrocks, Tony Robinson and Dougray Scott promised a lot. They were my main reason for seeing 'Faeries', as well as my lifelong love for animation, regardless of its anything but original plot.
'Faeries', after watching it, is not a bad animated film, there are certainly far worse animations around. At the same time, it is a long way from great or from being one of the best, there are animations with much more polish, more engaging stories and a clearer target audience. Watchable and worth a one-time watch, but doesn't stand up to repeat viewings and the younger, less demanding crowd are more likely to get enjoyment out of it rather than adults (even when adults are taking it for what it is and the target audience).
Starting with the strengths, the best asset about 'Faeries' is the voice acting, which is really very good. Jeremy Irons' sinister and gleefully relished Shape Shifter and Kate Winslet's charming, winsome and resourceful Brigid are the standouts. The characters are also pretty good, two appealing heroes, a suitably scary but not enough to traumatise villain and droll personalities for the fairies. Would have liked a more likable and stronger personality for the Fairy Prince though.
There are moments of light but never childish humour to appeal to younger audiences and also some dark but not too frightening suspense for older audiences. Some of the hand-drawn landscapes are beautifully realised and vibrantly coloured. The music score is whimsical, haunting and also enchantingly beautiful.
However, not all the animation is great. Some colours are flat and character designs are scrappy, looking more very low-budget early-mid-70s Saturday morning television standard. Most problematic in this regard is the confused mishmash of traditional, CGI and more realistic scenery, they just don't gel together and some of it looks pretty cheap too.
Problematic also is the storytelling. A suitable length, but tends to be very draggy and taking too long to get going. There are some neat ideas but the main plot-line is anything but original and executed pretty predictably and with lack of momentum. Target audience is questionable, younger kids are most likely to get some enjoyment, though some may find it too scary in parts, but adults, even for taking it for what it is and judging it through younger eyes, are likely to be bored, other than the voice cast there's not much for adults here.
Overall, not awful but falls short of being particularly good. A bland mixed bag if you will. 5/10 Bethany Cox
