I don't even know where to start. First of all, Jonathan Brandis is a fine actor but this movie is HORRIBLE. I'm surprised it didn't affect or even destroy his career. Everyone in this movie is recast, which is fine, the kids in the original grew up. But the new kids don't resemble the originals in any form. It's disappointing to see the charactera that you love so much completely gone. All the character development, time, and writing gone into them, completely lost. It's also frustrating to see the beloved world of Fantasia modernized. It's seems less like the mythical world it once was and more like manhatten if it was marble. Atreyu is so frustrating as he doesn't get any of Bastian's references to the real world, and Bastian is basically a different person. He's trying out for athletics to make his dad proud. Part of Bastian's character is the loss of his mother and him being off in his own little world, even with his father trying to coax him out of it. The villains aren't scary or interesting. One of them is a personified bird and the other is a weirdly villainess. It's awkward and uncomfotable to watch them. Not in the way watching Jim Henson's Skeksis makes you uncomfortable, no. This is in the worst possible way that makes you wants to stop watching the movie. No kid can watching this and truly enjoy it with villains like that. The worst part? Falkor. They ruined him. Falkor was always my favorite character but in this movie his eyes are red, his voice is like 4 octives lower, he is less sweet looking, and he just doesn't have the same loving personality as he did in the original. Overall this movie caused half of my brain to deteriorate and I absolutely would not recommend it. If you do plan on watching this, don't waste your money. Find a free version. This movie seems like it should be paying the viewer to watch it rather than having the viewer pay to experience this mess of a sequel.
