The new Secret Garden (2020) spoiled by computer effects and a pathetic fire scene. Inferior to the version of 1993 (see post below) . Video: The Secret Garden | Official Trailer [HD] |

The Secret Garden is a cloying, off-the-mark adaptation of a great novel: Review

By Maureen Lee Lenker August 05, 2020 at 03:00 AM EDT

https://ew.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-secret-garden-review/

 

 The 1911 novel The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a rite of passage for many children, an engrossing and magical story that captures the imagination. It’s served as fodder for countless screen adaptations in its century-plus of existence, but its latest iteration directed by Marc Munden and adapted by Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) saps the story of its magic.

 

 It follows orphaned Mary Lennox (a petulant Dixie Egerickx), a child who is sent to live with her uncle Archibald Craven (Colin Firth) in England when her parents die during a cholera epidemic in India. Craven is a pitiful figure, a man haunted by grief after the death of his wife, who has forced his son Colin (Edan Hayhurst) into living the life of an invalid out of a misguided sense of overprotectiveness.

 

 This adaptation takes great liberties with the storytelling, converting Craven’s wife’s accidental death into a malingering illness and making the titular garden a literally magical place where plants bloom and wither in the blink of an eye. The gardens are lush and inviting, more mystical wonderland than the manicured English garden. But they rely too heavily on CGI instead of actual natural wonder to convey their secrets.

 

 The Secret Garden is a tale about grief: a catalog of how it twists and wounds us, and how with the right tending and care, we can bloom back to vibrant life. The only person in the film keyed into that here is Firth as Craven, who lends his always reliable air of sensitivity interpreted as arrogance to the role. With little dialogue and only a handful of scenes, he offers audiences the deep wells of Craven’s grief with only his eyes and a muttered word through a clenched jaw.

 

 But this adaptation leans heavily on clichés the story doesn’t need. The garden is not figuratively magic, it’s literally so, with the power to heal dogs and Colin. This robs the storytelling of its power, by chalking Mary and Colin’s growth up to some unseen spectral force guided by spirits. The novel’s power lies in Mary and Colin’s affection for each other, how they bloom under their mutual care (and the interest of kindly servants). The film doubles down on these choices by adding an unnecessarily fiery climax into the film, seeking to inject some dramatic action where none is required. Ironically, the result is to turn a genuinely moving tale into one that is profoundly dull.

 

 Like the garden at its heart, The Secret Garden has always found its beauty in its quietude, a small story of hearts broken and healed through nature, attentive care, and true connection. But this adaptation doesn’t understand that, instead drowning the film in showy set pieces and magical realism rather than understanding the inherent magic in all things. They should’ve never underestimated the peace that can be found in simplicity and quiet. C

  

'The Secret Garden' yields a less appealing version of the children's classic

 

Brian Lowry byline

Review by Brian Lowry, CNN

 Updated 1427 GMT (2227 HKT) August 7, 2020

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/07/entertainment/the-secret-garden-review/index.html

 

 (CNN)"The Secret Garden" is one of the more enduring titles in children's literature, having been adapted for the screen multiple times, including a splendid 1993 version. That's the backdrop to the latest movie based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel, which makes puzzling choices in harvesting the material, mostly providing an incentive to go back and watch the last one again.

 

 The new film boasts an impressive pedigree -- it's billed as coming from the makers of the Harry Potter series, mostly notably producer David Heyman -- and a cast that includes Colin Firth and Julie Walters. The story, however, develops slowly, shifts the 1911 book into a post-World War II timeframe without much reason and makes a significant change in the final act that the project could have surely done without.

 

At its core, there's still the uplifting tale of an orphaned young girl, Mary Lennox (Dixie Egerickx), and the healing power she brings to the insulated estate to which she is sent. After a fleeting introduction, Mary is forced to go live with her distant, sullen uncle by marriage (Firth), still bearing emotionally scars over the death of his wife, her mother's sister.

 

Banging around the giant manor, Mary encounters Colin (Edan Hayhurst), her uncle's son, who is bedridden, fragile, spoiled, and as surly as she is. Gradually, she coaxes him to venture out into the grounds with her to explore the untended, neglected garden she has discovered, joined by another boy, Dickon (Amir Wilson), who has a way with animals and admirable patience with his two more privileged companions.

 

Directed by Marc Munden, this latest "Garden" is, inevitably, still lovely to look at with all those vibrant colors, perhaps especially in its celebration of nature at a time when people have been cooped up. But it's not as magical as it should be, which might stem in from feeling more Disney-fied in its trappings, including a stray dog and darting birds. There are also flashbacks to Mary's parents, which actually serves to make them -- and her experience -- less interesting, and the film more conspicuously manipulative.

 

Granted, movie companies don't really need much excuse to remake a beloved classic every generation or so, and the latest iteration isn't bad for parents looking to introduce "The Secret Garden" to their kids.

 

Still, the tradeoff of that includes the inevitable comparisons to what's been done before, and by that standard, this "Secret Garden" can remain overlooked, while hoping for more from the next incarnation, if history is any guide, probably destined for some time during the 2040s.