The Secret Kingdom (2023) User Reviews

Surprisingly good family adventure movie!

[Wookie_Wookie · 6/10 · 11 June 2023]

I have this as a 6/10, but that is out of major respect to the studio and their ambition with this movie. For an Australian film, this is shockingly ambitious and isn't afraid to do big action scenes. Now, some of the CGI is iffy, but it's perfectly fine, given this isn't a major studio release (I'm looking at you Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumainia).

The kids acting is surprisingly solid; it's always hard to find good child actors, and to find some outside the U. S. is outstanding. That's where many of these family adventure movies fall, and it's great that they found good talent. Also, they will probably be great for kids to see themselves in the characters, so that's a plus.

The main faults of the movie are the generic story and (as I mentioned before) its iffy CGI. The story is serviceable, but it's been done many times before; it's okay to go down the same path, but without enough turns, it ultimately just feels samey and that's a problem both big and small movies can have. The CGI, at some points, shocked me with how good it was, and I want to give my full praise to Hive Studios Australia; but at other points, I felt like I was ready to pick up the XBOX 360 controller.

The reason why I'm saying this is because they are on a good path and just need to keep pushing a little further to create great CGI through and through.

I want to keep this review short, but this movie is an absolute trip that, although it doesn't always land on its feet, makes up for in adventurous spirit. If you're a parent looking for a movie for a family movie night I'd highly recommend this one.

Mediocre fantasy film

[rayhansyl · 4/10 · 10 June 2023]

Hello viewers, what are you thinking? Is it worth watching? Let me tell you something first, if you got nothing to watch then It's worth watching but if you have other options you can skip it. Kids & teenager may like it. I was hopeful about 'The Secret Kingdom' from an user review where she applauded it. In the very beginning I saw a family moved to a new domicile because of money problem & they lost their house to the bank. So new home showed another world below in there they story will reveal itself. A teenager boy was the protagonist of this movie, to be honest his acting wasn't good. He missed proper expression, then come the visual effect: visual effect wasn't that good. Only thing that grabbed my attention was the character of Verity (a nine years old girl) she was so energetic & dialogue delivery was praiseworthy. All other things fall apart, as a fantasy adventure teenage movie you can try 'city of Amber' or 'the bridge of terrabithia' Well, I am not impressed with The Secret Kingdom. I will give it 4/10.

This Kingdom probably should have stayed a secret..

[giplord · 5/10 · 12 June 2023]

The comedy team "The Chaser" once said that we should preface all reviews of Australian films with "For an Australian Movie". Sadly, even with that preface, this movie still isn't good. Primarily, I really struggled with the acting which sounded like a crew from a local theatre group doing their first play. Special mention to the first scene in the curio shop, where the owner manages around 5 different accents in one line of dialogue! Surprisingly, the two child characters were actually some of the better actors. To be fair to the actors however, the script did them no favours with some painfully cheesy dialogue and scenes that were a collection of fantasy "the chosen one" tropes.

However it wasnt all awful, the CGI was solid and it had some sparks of fun especially in the second act of the movie early in the underground. It feels like a movie with significant potential that is never quite reached.

If you are at a loose end for an OK family movie and don't have many alternatives, then give the Secret Kingdom a try.. My kids (7 and 11) definitely enjoyed it more than the adults did.

Great effects, poor plot

[Surreptitious_Vin · 3/10 · 11 June 2023]

The CGI is great given its an Australian film and not hollywood.

That said, the acting is bad. Cant really blame the kids though if the direction and editing falters too, which it does hilariously. Not only does the director fail to get his cast to put in some semblance of credibility, the editing dept too fails to get proper cuts in to keep the storyline fluid which inherently, also lacks depth and coherence.

The movie begins without any backstory or events leading up to the present, things start happening and before you know it, you are off riding on some creature's back(dragon?). In the end the story twists into an unexpected psychological tale wholly unrelated to preceding events. Basically its all an incredulous mix mashup of various stories told many times before only this time the director threw in everything into the stew all at once and forgot to stir the pot.

That was rough...

[nufercorey · 2/10 · 11 June 2023]

The twist is obvious from the beginning, the acting is really rough, and the story feels like it was written on ChatGPT. I grew up in the 80's, a wasteland of bad entertainment, and I don't think even as a 5 year old I would have enjoyed this mess. One other reviewer said the "visuals" were amazing, they are most certainly wrong. Half the time the Pangolin's voices don't time right with their mouths moving. The villain is the go to lazy villain for when you don't want to write anything interesting, a black cloud that represents the main character's fear. Australia, you can do better, I've seen you do better...

Wasted special effects

[bjyrmmv · 3/10 · 12 June 2023]

Great special effects ruined by appallingly bad acting, over used plot devices, awful script, thin story and an amateurish score. Spare yourself and watch a trillion other movies that use almost exactly the same formularised story line but with better quality production values. This is a prophesy driven fantasy with a reluctant child protagonist named Peter........ sound familiar?

The special effects were really quite good, not at all in the same class as the rest of the production, which was really quite odd. When your kids put this on, you should schedule to be in any other part of the house. This is not a show for the whole family.

Not a bad movie

[radhiaabdulwahhab · 7/10 · 14 June 2023]

I don't know why these low ratings and reviews, it's a good movie for kids and adults Is the reason for these low ratings that the movie did not contain the agenda of modernity and that it was kids movie that was innocent of everything they wanted to push us for?

The movie is not without flaws, but it was never a bad movie I loved it and recommend watching it Much better than many of the children's films produced by big production companies, which are no longer innocent films Very good film for the family to enjoy, Very good film for the family to enjoy, Very good film for the family to enjoy,

Really..!!

[husainfahim · 1/10 · 11 June 2023]

The story was garbage.. The acting was absolutely trash by all characters.. it clearly looked as if the producer preferred quantity over quality. The CGI or special effects was a joke. Like probably I could make a better animation then that even though I have absolutely no idea how to do it. The only thing a little bit better was the reveal that the little sister had been dead a long time and she was a fragment of the boys imagination, otherwise the story was one of the worst ive ever seen and i have seen worse..the story didnt even make sense to be honest.. No introduction to the movie plot like not even telling the year in which movie is based.. At the end its revealed that the boys sister died in 1960s.. making absolutely no sense with the plot...

A pleasant kids movie

[mosnorrebo · 7/10 · 16 June 2023]

I really enjoyed this movie. It's a movie for children so I don't get the low scores.

It felt like an Astrid Lindgren story mixed with the Neverending story.

It's a movie about fear and how to overcome it before it grows to strong so it turns into something worse. Something I have the unpleasant knowledge about. It's about death and that we have to let go sometime, something I am still working on.

It's about two siblings that goes on a journey together to overcome this things but not all as it seems.

If you like adventure movies for kids this is not a bad movie is. A bit slow maybe but I can live with it.

Dull as dishwater

[CabbageCustard · 4/10 · 23 November 2023]

I always say that the best children's movies are those which work on two levels: one which keeps the adults interested and chortling along and which flies above the heads of kids, and a second level which delights the kids and keeps them enthralled. The Paddington movies are a great example of this. By that standard, this is definitely not one of the best children's movies. The CGI in this movie and the special effects are top notch. The story is not. It's not even very original. You will recognise a lot of themes and concepts 'borrowed' from other, better movies as you watch this. Of the two main actors - both children - neither can act very well and one of them can't act at all. It's the pity there isn't more in this to appeal to older kids, teen and adults because I suspect that the story and themes may be a bit too complicated to hold the attention of younger kids, even though they're the target audience.

Sadly, it is really hard to recommend this movie. I guess it may be preferable to spending an evening re-arranging your sock drawer - but only just. Maybe.

Seriously Amazing!

[MovieGuy3001 · 9/10 · 4 May 2023]

I watched this with my 7 and 9 year old kids, I have to say WOW!. We absolutely loved it!

The visuals are amazing and the story hits out of the blue. I initially felt it started a little slowly as the kids just wanted to see the creatures but the story establishes itself with some things that really hit home later. Once the characters fall into the underground world it really gets going and there really is so much to look at. The visuals and the story are a lot bigger than what is shown in the trailers I saw. And Its Australian film! This is up there with anything you will see. It's a great adventure with a sweet story that prompted some thoughtful family conversation afterwards. Highly recommended.

It's a children's film with a lesson

[Snootz · 7/10 · 9 August 2023]

This is a kid's film. The CGI and special effects are good. The story has a fine moral-- about overcoming trauma and fear. It's not too full of itself, it's not silly, and the characters are enjoyable. I especially like the actress who played the sister; she did a fine job. The brother's acting seemed a little off, but he was playing the part of a child who was traumatized. Difficult part to play.

Adults should not watch a children's film and then rate it as if it's supposed to be for adults. This is for children. It's designed to catch and hold the attention of children, and hopefully teach them something in the process. This does so. To rate it 1 star or say it's the worst film ever is ridiculous and fueled more by ego and attitude than balanced reviewing. For the purpose it is intended, the film does well enough.

Child has psychotic break over trauma

[fibulator777 · 1/10 · 31 July 2023]

Some parts were average, but most were bad.

Starts out going *WAY* overboard making sure you know the main character is weak, pathetic, and severely mentally ill. Took several minutes to get out of the car... Mother's fake french accent is abysmal.

All human actors are pathetically bad.

Script is trash... ChatGPT without any editing.

The CGI models: Some were really good, some were pretty good, and a couple were kinda bad.

However: MOST of the animation was gut wrenching. Oddly, the animation for the main companions was *worse* than random stuff in the background.

There's a "fight scene" if you can call it that. Mechanical things are *clearly* not animated in the same room as their opponent. They do not attack. They just walk towards their opponent and randomly call into pieces for no apparent reason. You can see the swipes from the other guy... hits 3, they crumble... misses 10 more... but they crumble any way.

Entire movie was "go to location, look around, find piece with extreme ease, repeat".

This movie was written by a 9 year old, for 9 year olds, and acted by 9 year olds.

Beast looks like baphomet

[mandamann-46640 · 1/10 · 29 October 2023]

Acting and storyline are great, you can tell the personalities of each kid straight away, accents are slightly off, the monkey couls us some work, but I absolutely cannot recommend anyone to watch it.

The beast that shows up at the sundial has a head that looks close to baphomet. At first heblooks like a dragon but than you see him as a dinosaur but his head is a goats head with horns. Baphomet is the symbol of Satan. This is very horrible thing add.

No movie should ever contain anything of the sort in it. This is not a movie for anyone, child and adult alike. Please think better with future movies.

Poor Plot and Poor acting

[barcrest · 2/10 · 8 August 2023]

The story moves with odd pacing, and the plot is pretty linear. It is one sequence then some travelling to the next sequence. The acting from the lead 2 characters is terrible, leaving you not really bothered if they survive or not. The film is so bad I am writing this whilst it is actually still playing.

My little one who is almost 7 lost interest in it after 10 minutes. This isn't like her, as she will normally sit through a film even a bad one.

There are so many good films around at the moment how this got made for a theatrical release I don't know. It reminds me of the straight to DVD or made for TV movies in the early 2000's. While the effects are ok they are not what is expected of movies made today. I gave it a 2 rather than a 1 as the effects are not the worst, but it really is a dire film.

The Secret Kingdom

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 24 August 2023]

"Peter" (Sam Everingham) and his young sister "Verity" (Alyla Browne) arrive at their new, somewhat dilapidated, home and after a brief visit to an antiques emporium find themselves crashing through the floorboards of his bedroom and into a magical word of armour-plated pangolin who inform the young man that he is their king, and that only he can solve a series of riddles that will deliver the key to a clock that can thwart the dastardly enemy "The Shroud" that is bent of destroying all that is fair in the world. Now it's hardly original this - there are bits fairly clearly inspired by "Harry Potter", "Narnia" and "Golden Compass" throughout, but the efforts from Everingham and Brown with their faithful escort "Bling" and the double-headed tortoise "Ego" and "Ergo" are actually quite fun. The visuals look fine and there are plenty of adventures before an ending that offers little by way of surprise, but hey - it's a family film with dragons and nasties and it's not meant to be over-thought. If you like movies that take you into mysterious enchanted kingdoms for a bit of escapism, you won't be disappointed. You won't remember it for long, either, but I quite enjoyed it for what it is.

That kingdom should've stayed a secret

[omarmostafamh · 2/10 · 12 August 2023]

Very bad film, directory, animation, and CGI. Most of the characters had weird accents as qell as the film had not mentioned when the story took place which was really important to the storyline asweel a really porly writen characters. The animals looked almost disgusting and the main character (the kid with th bowl cut) was just an anoying autistic kid. It really feels like the onlypart when the animators actualy put in some effort is scenes were huge landscapes were animated. Now , the problemis that the animatedanimals fell like they run on 24-26 fps while the humans run on 60 fps. The animals have weird vocals due to a poor effort of trying to make the creatures voice sound deep. Overall i do not recommend it for anyone over 7 years. I gave it 2 stars just out of pitty even tho it deserves 0 stars.

It's a 7-10 age movie, really good ideas for kids

[haneenalhiddi · 10/10 · 3 August 2023]

The movie talks about anxiety and the fear monster and how the little boy beat his fear , it's away from any " forced ideas" or any implanted ideas like the new kids movies those days , my little sister all she can talk about after the movie : how she want to be as brave as him so she can never let the fear monster win and how she wanna beat the stuff that scares her so she can never let the fear monster grow.. And me myself didn't feel bored watching it with her , it was kinda fun !

It's really nice movie with nice ideas , I recommend everyone who can , take your kids to it it's a really nice movie.

Magical story with depth and sincerity

[MoviesWhileDoingOtherThings · 10/10 · 10 March 2024]

This story addresses serious matters through magical allegory--and doesn't undermine the lessons by being preachy or self-righteous.

I loved the small clues from the beginning shown through the boy's abnormal reactions to seemingly benign events. I thought he was a child with OCD or perhaps just not neurotypical, and the magical events kept me wondering up until the end.

The child actors did a great job, and I'm not sure why so many are harsh about them when the child acting coming out of the US these days tends to be so over the top. These kids felt believable in their environment and their connection as siblings was so nice to see.

It's a warm-hearted, touching story that might make you a little sad but feels very wholesome. It deserves a much better overall rating than what it has, so my 10 stars is an effort to provide some balance. I probably would have given it an 8 or so otherwise.