I'm a sucker for a story.

Seriously, anytime I hear, read, or see a story--in any form--I always want to know what happened next. I still remember years-old incidents where somehow--flipping channels, being at a friends' house, a technical problem, etc.--I saw only part of a movie or show; to this day, I wonder what happened before or after what I saw. True, some tales are not worth telling; if it's morally offensive, I don't want to hear any part of it. However, as long as it isn't sinful, pretty much any story can grab my attention.

So, despite the critical drubbing this movie got, I found it to be a captivating tale of redemption, with a charming historical setting. The performances were wonderful, and the production values were amazing. It seems to me that the critics were just too hard on this movie because it fell into the genre of Christian cinema. I would say that we need more films--and, for that matter, television shows--like this.

Then again, I'm such a sucker for a story that I stayed up past midnight to finish watching _The Witches of Oz_, which had the worst special effects I've ever seen, so, maybe I'm not a fair judge. To adapt an old song lyric, "Here I am now; entertain me!" That's what this movie did; you may feel differently.

(I do want to issue a content concern: This film has a surprising amount of violence; more than I would expect in a "PG". The initial shock I had while watching this is akin to what many people felt when _Prince Caspian_ first came out. While there's no blood or gore, the intensity of the action made me feel like this should have been "PG-13" instead.)