The family movie has undoubtedly changed in recent years. Even the good ones, like “Zootopia” or “The Lego Movie,” sometimes come across like manic, ADD sugar highs, while the middling ones coast by on their sidekicks (see: minions, penguins), and the terrible ones are torturous in a way that few experiences can rival. They’re also predominately animated, it seems, with live-action family movies that aren’t PG-13 four-quadrant blockbuster increasingly a thing of the past (even this week’s “The BFG” is basically an animated film, as was “The Jungle Book,” thanks to the heavy amounts of CGI involved).
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So there’s something old-school charming about watching the trailer for “Swallows & Amazons,” a new British family adventure from “Paddington” backers StudioCanal. Based on Arthur Rackham’s novel (and a remake of the 1974 film), and directed by BAFTA-winning “Call The Midwife” helmer Philippa Lowthorpe, it sees the Walker family and their boat the Swallow crossing paths with another seafaring group of kids called the Blacketts, whose uncle, ‘Captain Flint,’ is a decidedly mysterious figure.
The new script, by Andrea Gibb, seems to have added a little more drama to proceedings, with “Spectre” and “Sherlock” star Andrew Scott as a sinister figure, but this otherwise looks like a pleasingly old-fashioned take on the family film. And the cast is strong too, with Kelly Macdonald, Rafe Spall, Jessica Hynes and Harry Enfield all on board. The film hits on August 19th in the UK —no word on a U.S. release yet, but we’ll keep you posted.