Fridae

If you're looking for a film to entertain the family this festive season, look no further than Inkheart. Though it is not be in Chinese, it's less likely to disappoint than the three Chinese films battling it out this New Year.

Based on Cornelia Funke's bestselling novel, this delightful fantasy-adventure stars newcomer Eliza Bennett and Mummy star Brendan Frasier as a girl and her father who have the powers to bring characters from books to life. The trouble with their powers is that when a character steps off the pages of a book, someone else must take his place in the book. That someone else could very well be a human being.

Sadly, that was how Brendan's wife/Eliza's mother disappeared many years ago - prompting Brendan to go on a hunt for the book Inkheart in which she is still trapped�.

Though the plot is somewhat complicated, squeezing numerous plot twists into its 106minute runtime, Inkheart is still is well-crafted piece of family entertainment. The storytelling is solid, the technical package is slick and the cast is uniformly good.

Adults will be generally satisfied by this finely-imagined and provocative tale, while kids will lap up the colourful characters, which include those from classic books like Arabian Nights and The Wizard of Oz.