Myth & magic & the power of story telling

Fantasy and magic have attained a greater respectability since the works of J.K.Rowling & Philip Pullman, and the movie version of the Lord of the Rings. It is therefore appropriate that these earliest and most magical stories should be retold for a new generation. Forget pantomime preconceptions, or Disney Americanisation, this plays the story for real; the evil sultan is not evil because he is foreign, corrupt and strange, but is a real human in a real psychological predicament. While aimed at a family audience (overtly erotic stories are omitted) there are sexual themes (jealousy and lust) that remind us of the nature of the original stories. You may feel you know these stories, but the telling is so fresh too make them new; they are told with a gentle humour in magnificent settings and the special effects are state of the art, but not allowed to overwhelm the story telling. Although only a small fraction of the stories are told (and of those that are, Aladdin is a later incorporation), having several stories tied together by the drama of a storyteller fighting for her love and her life, makes this an epic movie. Highly recommended.