“Inkheart” is another in a long line of fanciful children's stories where kids can save the world if given a chance. The film, starring Brendan Fraser, Helen Mirren, Sienna Giullory and Paul Bettany, is the story of an ordinary guy called Mo Folchart (Fraser) who just happens to possess a rare talent: when he reads stories out of a book, the characters come to life in the real world. So here we have a beautiful premise, don’t we?

But Mo is keeping quite a secret from his daughter Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett). The girl thinks her mother abandoned the family for far-flung adventures years ago, but the truth is more interesting than Meggie could ever imagine.

The atmosphere of the film is simply charming and the whole world of possibilities it unveils has indeed breathtaking situations for any average kid. For example, a unicorn and "The Wizard of Oz's" flying monkeys also make appearances, as does, briefly, Toto too. There are close calls, weird whispers, amusing throwaway lines, the ditherings of a distractible author (Jim Broadbent), and cartoon violence undertaken by misshapen scary-comic evil henchmen.

However, based on Cornelia Funke's popular children's novel, this fantasy adventure saga has appealing moments, striking production design and a strong, mostly British cast. But too many scenes come across as overly busy and boisterous.

As directed by Iain Softley (“The Wings of the Dove”), the ensemble cast is one of the film's brightest features along with the love for literature it subtly promotes, which is the next best thing for a child to understand nowadays. Watch out for the film’s lack of plot clarity every now and then.