Inkheart

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Inkheart

PG

Released Jan 23, 2009

1h 45m

Kids & Family

Adventure

Fantasy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

38%

Tomatometer

146 Reviews

45%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Mo (Brendan Fraser) and his daughter, Meggie, have the ability to bring storybook characters to life just by reading aloud. That gift backfires when he accidentally summons Capricorn, the evil villain of the novel "Inkheart." Mo and Meggie must find a way to send him back to his literary realm, but the task will not be easy, for the malefactor likes his new world and will not leave it voluntarily.

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Critics Consensus

Heavy on cliches and light on charm, this kid-lit fantasy-adventure doesn't quite get off the ground.

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Anna King

Time Out

Rated: 3/5

Nov 16, 2011

Full Review

Christine Champ

Film.com

Rated: C+

May 6, 2011

Full Review

Evan Williams

The Australian

Readers who want to exercise their imaginations may prefer to stick to the written word. If a story gets boring, you can always skip a few pages and move on. In the cinema there isn't much choice.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 10, 2009

Full Review

Joe Lipsett

Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr Podcast

A significantly condensed, if slightly sleepy adaptation of Cornelia Funke's bestseller. Fraser is channeling Rick from The Mummy, Mirren is here for the paycheck and Serkis is miscast. The FX holds up well, though!

Rated: 2/5

Jun 3, 2025

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

A good fantasy book, or one of the movies this one steals from, would keep the family much more entertained.

Rated: 1/4

Dec 15, 2023

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The basic plot is as convoluted and faulty as time travel, and without very finite ground rules, the details and conclusion feel contrived.

Rated: 5/10

Nov 28, 2020

Full Review

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Nicole B

I feel sad seeing the reviews but I will always remember Inkheart as a wonderful movie and my 11 year old self will always tell stories of how this movie inspired me to read books.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/29/25

Full Review

Danny R

Even with an all star cast, the film is brought down by the no talent portion of the cast, Rafi Gavron, Roger Allam, Jamie Foreman, Steve Speirs and John Thomson, then theres the escape in the storm scene were Resa is trapped behind bars she could clearly fit though, Lizzo and Kevin James cuddling could fir though that gap, and then there is the worst of the lot Andy Serkis, he has as much talent as a shoelace and even less charisma, even with a poor script for example Capricorn says " you are going you love my old friend and by love, I mean cower in terror from" in the hands of a good actor the might have been more convincing, saying that that line in the hands of 1000 year old dead rotting corpse would have been more convincing than Serkis

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

04/20/25

Full Review

Qadir M

At least, this movie inspired to read books. Though I was too little to recognize that the book, Inkheart, is... not of those books that I look up to.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/21/25

Full Review

cinema f

“Every story ever written is just waiting to become real.” I love Brandon Fraser and fantasy so this mix was perfect. I loved Fraser in The Mummy and he’s amazing in this. 5/5 stars.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/26/24

Full Review

Twiggy H

Pushing pass the fact it's quite boring throughout for a total faction film, what doesn't make sense is why any writer of any fictional book would use an already existing word for a character.. i don't know what the writer hated about 'Capricorns' but to name a fictional character of a certain 'constellation of stars' is just weird. Might have to find out what starsign the writer is and see how that twit likes it.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/11/24

Full Review

Adriana M

Lovely movie, great cast and locations, old school fantasy style, but very good entertainment!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

08/04/24

Full Review

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Iain Softley

Director

Brendan Fraser

Mo

Paul Bettany

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Helen Mirren

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Jim Broadbent

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Andy Serkis

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Synopsis

Mo (Brendan Fraser) and his daughter, Meggie, have the ability to bring storybook characters to life just by reading aloud. That gift backfires when he accidentally summons Capricorn, the evil villain of the novel "Inkheart." Mo and Meggie must find a way to send him back to his literary realm, but the task will not be easy, for the malefactor likes his new world and will not leave it voluntarily.

Director: Iain Softley
Producer: Iain Softley, Diana Pokorny, Cornelia Funke
Screenwriter: David Lindsay-Abaire
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Production Co: New Line Cinema
Rating: PG (Fantasy Adventure Action|Brief Language|Some Scary Moments)
Genre: Kids & Family, Adventure, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 23, 2009, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $17.3M
Runtime: 1h 45m

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