7/10
Young Huck Finn and his adventures with his friend Jim, a runaway slave, is told in this tale based on the novel written by Mark Twain
24 May 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Huck Finn (Elijah Wood) has a knack for getting into trouble. He spends the majority of his days playing hooky from school, getting into fights, and lying to his guardians Mrs. Watson (Mary Louise Wilson)and Widow Douglas (Dana Ivey) about how he got black eyes. One day, Huck's drunken, abusive father (Ron Perlman) arrives and takes his son away with him, looking for a way to get his hands on $600 left to Huck by his mother who is deceased. Huck escapes from his father's cabin, after a night of fighting for his life, and, in the company of a runaway slave named Jim (Courtney B. Vance), the duo sets off on a journey by boat down the Mississippi with the goal of getting Jim's freedom. Along the way, the pair meets a number of interesting people and become dragged into several adventures that don't always lean towards their favor. Disney has a rep. for watering down things that may cause a social argument. Huck Finn deals with a single major issue: slavery. In the book, Mark Twain never holds back punches which are good when using a type of fiction realism since The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was the first book to be wrote in full dialect. Although the movie never uses the word "nigger", that's about the only thing that has been sanitized because it is meant to be a children's/Family movie. The evils of slavery are still shown, rather graphically, at times and it would be wrong to assume that The Adventures of Huck Finn doesn't have a social agenda. Family films are hard to find, and those that fit into the category of "good entertainment" are even less common. The Adventures of Huck Finn is a great exception, although young children may be a little frightened by some of the violence. Same as the book, there are many levels on which the story can be appreciated. Children will enjoy the adventure, but the sarcasm and funny wit is mainly for adult consumption. The Adventures of Huck Finn is a great movie and Disney has produced a film of some quality. It's not a 5 out of 5 , and it can't be considered the real version of Twain's work but it deserves some recognition and credit. I give the movie 3 out of 5 because it was entertaining and the wasn't really and crappy animation like some of the other movies of that time period.
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