Book Figures Are Ample Reason Not to Write Off ‘Pagemaster’

In “The Pagemaster,” a nerdy hypochondriac (Macaulay Culkin) learns courage with the help of literature after he seeks refuge in a deserted library and embarks on fantastic adventures in the worlds of horror, adventure and fantasy. (Rated PG)

*

Because this widely hyped movie is one your mother clearly would want you to see, its aura is uncool.

Nevertheless, most kids gave it a solid B. Even older sophisticates who expected to find a red-lipped Macaulay Culkin kiddie flick were surprised by the acceptable action and fun.

“I thought it was going to be stupid,” said Ethan Phearson, 10. “There wasn’t a lot of action and adventure in the commercials.”

But Ethan laughed at Culkin’s Richie Tyler, a statistic-spouting boy who’s afraid of the dark and mercury levels in tuna. Ethan also liked Richie’s adventures, which begin when he slips in the library, is knocked unconscious and enters a dream world he can escape only by passing three tests of courage.

From there, Culkin vanishes and the movie shifts into a cartoon in which the plot and the action suspiciously resemble a future video or computer game.

In order to reach the library’s exit, Richie must pass through three dangerous realms without losing his library card. Along the way, he meets and is helped by book friends: Adventure, a one-eyed, one-legged, one-handed swashbuckler; Horror, a frightened, plastic-faced goblin; and Fantasy, a lavender fairy godmother. When the going gets tough, a deep, mysterious voice advises Richie to “seize the courage” or “look to the books.”

The movie’s apparent message--that books are exciting and can actually help you--was lost on some kids.

“If there was a message, I don’t know what it is,” Ethan said.

That’s completely understandable. Who can appreciate the imagination in books when it’s competing simultaneously with the imaginative animation of, say, a ceiling mural dissolving into a tidal wave of paint splashing through the library stacks? Or electric dancing fairies, or magic carpets, or a fire-breathing dragon?

If the message was lost in the medium, at least it was better than most Saturday morning cartoons.

“It was cool,” concluded Danan Coleman, 11, who came with his sister Kendra, 9, and brother Clint, 6. Their mother picked the show for them, they said, but none was disappointed. They agreed that the film’s highlight was the animated book characters, particularly Horror, whose frightful distortions and whining, provided by the voice of Frank Welker, offered some laughs. “Star Trek’s” Patrick Stewart played Adventure, and Whoopi Goldberg put her stamp on Fantasy. (She hails Mother Goose with “Hey, girl!” as she flies past in the fantasy realm.)

Culkin, now 14, still looks about 8 and continues to brandish his trademark “Yesss!” Though Culkin was off-screen for most of the movie, Kendra thought he still has what it takes.

“He’s great,” she said. “I really like him. He was actually cool.”

The kids said filmmakers don’t really have to sell them on books. For the most part, they said they prefer them to TV, CD-ROM, computer games and movies anyway.

“There’s only one game I like on the computer,” Kendra said. “It’s called Reading Blaster. You read on the computer.”