Hollywood Product: Inkheart

GENRE: Fantasy adventure for Harry Potter fans

THE PITCH: Single dad/bibliophile Mo Folchart (Brendan Fraser) is a “silvertongue,” with the power to draw characters out of books and send real people into them. He and his daughter (Eliza Bennett) track down an obscure fantasy novel named Inkheart to find his long-lost wife, despite the interference of such “fictional” personalities as the villainous Capricorn (Andy Serkis) and the conflicted antihero Dustfinger (Paul Bettany).

MONEY SHOTS: Dustfinger’s pet ferret chases Mo. Capricorn keeps a stable with creatures such as Peter Pan’s ticking crocodile and the Wizard of Oz’s flying monkeys. Mo reads the cyclone out of Oz to cover their escape from Capricorn’s castle. A big smoke monster called the Shadow looks pretty cool (if suspiciously like Lord of the Rings’ balrog). Oscar winner Dame Helen Mirren rides a mythological beast into an action scene, which is almost worth the price of admission.

BEST LINE: “You barbaric piece of pulp fiction!” Mirren snaps at Serkis, who each give such plummy, charismatic performances, it’s as though they’ve been read from a better movie.