DVD Review: Arthur and the Invisibles 2 & 3: The New Minimoy Adventures

The first Arthur & the Invisibles movie opened in 2006 and is a part live action, part animated adaptation of a 2002 children's book written by Luc Besson. In the original movie, 10 year old Arthur lives with his grandmother. His grandfather has suddenly gone missing and he doesn't get much attention from his parents. His grandmother reads him a story about his Grandfather and his friends in a tribe of miniature people in Africa (the Minimoys). According to his Grandmother, his Grandfather brought the Minimoys home & left them to live in their garden. The first movie was his first adventures with the Minimoys.

Arthur & the Invisibles 2 & 3: The Minimoy Adventures was released by 20th Century Fox on March 22nd. These are his second and third adventures with the Minimoys. These two full-length adventures will be available exclusively at Wal-Mart stores across America. In The New Minimoy Adventures, the story is based on the third and fourth books in the series

An evil enemy named Emperor Maltazard is trying to destroy his friends, the Minimoys. Voices included in the film include Freddie Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Selena Gomez (Ramona and Beezus), Mia Farrow (Samantha: An American Girl Holiday), Snoop Dogg (Starsky & Hutch), Lou Reed (Trainspotting), will.i.a.m (Madagascar: Escape to Africa) and Fergie (Marmaduke) from The Black Eyed Peas.

The second adventure is Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard where Arthur has to save Princess Selenia from Emperor Maltazard. He has Replay (Stacy Ferguson) and Snow (will.i.am) help him on the adventure. The third adventure is Arthur 3: The War of Two Worlds which is the final part of the battle between Arthur and evil Maltazard, who is now 7 feet tall!

I really love the story of Arthur and the Invisibles 2 & 3. The characters are cute and likable. The whole story is infused with just enough magic to keep you wondering what's going to happen next without making it so fanciful that it doesn't appeal to older children. The action kept my 13 year old's attention through the movie and the addition of several famous pop voices certainly helped as well. I love the way they merged real people with animation. Definitely a great family film that's suitable for all ages. The set includes two DVDs with a total of 196 minutes. There are no special features.

My thanks to the sponsor for allowing me to review this product.

As required by the FTC: I received a product sample in order to write my review.  I received no monetary compensation.  All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

Article first published as DVD Review: Arthur and the Invisibles 2 & 3: The New Minimoy Adventures on Blogcritics.