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Who payed the critics

So much average

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH is a good watch if you like seeing classic works of children's fiction being given the commercial, Walt Disney treatment: i.e. the shoehorning-in of random American characters and an incessant, action-focused narrative that barely gives you a moment to draw breath.This film was made by The Nightmare Before Christmas's Henry Selick, still riding high on the coat-tails of his successful cult feature. It's that film's inferior cousin in every respect, feeling cheap and uninteresting throughout; the characters are poorly drawn and the protagonist unsympathetic, so it's very hard to like the film at all. It might look like Dahl's original book, but it has none of the magic or atmosphere.I always enjoy seeing stop motion animation wherever it appears, but it does look very cheap here - among the cheapest I've seen. It's no surprise that half the film takes place (boringly) in live action, as they ran out of budget for the animation. On the plus side we get a Pete Postlethwaite cameo, but on the minus side we get Joanna Lumley and Miriam Margoyles hamming it up in the worst pantomime tradition. The worst voice actor of the plot? Richard Dreyfuss, who wouldn't understand restraint if it bit him on the backside.

An orphan with terrible aunts for guardians, befriends human like bugs who live inside a giant peach, who take the boy on a journey to New York City.Although I am not the biggest fan of "Nightmare Before Christmas", I love the aesthetic that Tim Burton and Henry Selick have. We get another taste of that here. Selick directs, Burton produced... it may be a bit less Burtonesque because it is based on a Roald Dahl book, but I feel like some of their sensibility still got in there, especially with the aunts.Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a positive review, praising the animated part, but calling the live-action segments "crude." I would have to agree with that. I liked the live-action bits, but they seemed out of place and it might have been best to go full-animation.

This is a very carefree and sweet (like peaches) live action/computer animated movie based on Roald Dahl children's novel, James and the Giant Beach.In the movie, James has to go live with his two horrible aunts, Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge, after the death of his parents. After saving a spider, he obtains crocodile tongues in his garden and an enormous peach grows from it. In the peach, he meets animated versions of the spider he saved earlier and a host of other multi-legged animals including the Centipede, Ladybug and Grasshopper. They help James escape his unhappy home and journey to the City of New York.In this movie, you get some nice memorable characters, interesting stop-motion animation, clever imagination and a catchy song to sing-along with called "We're Family." The rest of the songs and music score were sub-par. The song Paul Terry (James) sings called "My Name is James" is too melancholy and dreary for me, no harmony or melodies, and the actor himself didn't seem fit for the role - lack of emotion and interest.The overall movie did not have the captivating adventures, magic and fun I enjoy from many other animated films; therefore, I've only found the film to be average as far as entertainment is concerned. However, since this film does have the elements of a child's innocence and imagination, this would be a fine film to show to little kids, but not one to sit together to watch with the entire family.Grade C-

This movie is rotten like a spoiled peach. This pile of rotten apples was based on the book written by the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda, Roald Dahl. It is also directed by Henry Selick. So, why should I throw rotten peaches at the schmoes who made this crap? Read on and find out...The very first problem begins in the very first few minutes of the movie: the death of James' parents. According to the narrator, James' parents were eaten alive by a rhinoceros. Uh.... WHAT?!!! How do rhinos eat people?! Rhinoceri are herbivores not carnivores! I'm not kidding you, I didn't make this up! This is exactly what the narrator said about the death of James' parents. And afterwords, James becomes a ward for his two evil aunts. Call me crazy, but here's what really happened to James' parents: My guess is that James' evil aunts sneaked into the bedroom of James' parents and stabbed them to death out of extreme rage that James' parents are better than them. This is more realistic than "a rhino eating James' parents". Then, there's the songs. Listen how horrible the lyrics are! Randy Newman, you ought to be ashamed of yourself! You were one of my favorite composers! You composed the songs for the Toy Story movies, for god's sake! What was the matter with you?! This movie is so bad, the Nostalgia Critic was forced against his will making a "positive" review for this piece of crap.Pros: The artwork Cons: The songs, the CGI cloud effects, and the ridiculous explanation of how James' parents died.