Bim (2 Stars)

I always try to be lenient in my rating of children's films. I do my best to put myself into the mindset of a child. Would I have liked the film when I was six? More to the point, does my seven-year-old grandson Oliver like it?

The film begins in an unnamed town in Holland, where the church bells ring every day of the year, except for Easter Sunday. On that day, the bells have to fly to Rome in order to fetch a magic elixir that will make the bells ring and start spring. Yes, it's a magical town where all the bells have wings. That's a strange concept, but I did my best to accept it. I tried to suspend disbelief, as difficult as it was.

There's a competition in the town to decide which bells are the most suitable to make the journey. Surprisingly, the small bell Bim is picked as one of the four bells, even though he can only fly slowly. He sets off with Aurora, Pi and Bommel. On the way Aurora separates herself from the others. She wants the elixir for herself to make herself look more beautiful. When crossing the alps she gathers a gang of evil cowbells to help her in her task, promising to marry the cowbell who serves her best.

At this point I gave up. Even Oliver was confused. "Why are the bells flying?" he asked me innocently. I had no answer for him. When Bim, Bommel and Pi started collecting diamond eggs in Rome, not previously mentioned, I felt like my brain was hurting. What a load of rubbish!

I've given the film a two star rating, but even that is generous. What was the screenwriter thinking? The only thing the film has in its favour is the beautiful imagery, a mixture of real life photography and computer animation.