If, like me, you have wearied of a steady diet of Pixar and Disney animation, you will be intruiged and dazzled by "The Secret of Kells." The movie is visually astounding, but not in any of the usual ways. Much of the animation reminded me of the Cartoon Network's "Star Wars the Clone Wars" series, which itself is reminiscent of series like "Speed Racer." With "Kells," however, stylized simplicity becomes quite simply magical, and a vehicle capable carrying a fascinating and true story/legend forward. And the movie is remarkably true to what is known and passed down about The Book of Kells (a real text, now housed at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland). Be aware, that this faithfulness to story does mean there are harsh (though, again, stylized) depections of the Viking raids upon the Celtic settlements. This was scary for both my five and eight year olds; yet they stuck with the movie to the end. I had a great conversation with the older child afterwards about why the Vikings were shown as being inhuman (think the Huns from Mulan, except a step further), in which we reached the conclusion that it was because they chose violence and showed no mercy. I do want to note that the ending of the movie is blatantly religious, although not offensively (in the sense of proselytizing or judgement) so. Even if your family is not religious, however, "The Secret of Kells" could serve as fascinating fodder for a conversation about belief, fanaticism, and --oh yeah-- fairies.

It's perfect for little kids. It send a good message

My 9 yr old and I absolutely loved it. The animation was incredibly intricate and beautiful-- it was a visual feast. The story was somewhat harsh and "a little bit violent" according to my daughter, but unlike many foreign films the story, dialogue, and accents were easy to understand and follow. My daughter says that "the characters were very pronounced," meaning it was easy to tell what their motives and issues were. She liked the fairie because if it weren't for her there would be no girls in the movie. ("At first I was like, uh, where are all the girls?" ) We are both interested in learning more about Celtic history and taking a museum trip to see illuminated manuscripts.

Wonderful movie with terrific images. A very classic film. My 9 year olds were inspired to research the book and the origin when we left the movie. Delightful afternoon movie.

As several other reviewers have noted, the visual imagery in this movie is stunning -- only it is BEYOND anything I have seen in animation. It is absolutely beautiful, and worth seeing for this alone. We (my 9 year old and I) did not find it scary at all, I think largely because everything was so stylized. The whole film comes across more like a dream than anything "real," but this only adds to the magic. I also think that anything religious (pagan, Christian, whatever) is only what the viewer brings to it -- it stands on its own as a story, and comes across more like a fairy tale. I rated it 8+ because I think younger viewers would have trouble following it (I had to explain some background to my son as well -- he didn't know what a monastery was, for example (obviously not our culture, but this was an opportunity to learn!)) I highly recommend it!

We loved this movie! Beautifully animated - very unique style. It is a nice, new (to us) story from Irish folklore. The Book of Kells is a real book from ages ago. My 7 year old got a little edgy during some dark parts but it tells a good story of overcoming fears and using your talents.

It had beautiful animation and music. It made me interested about learning about illuminated manuscripts. The illustrations were soooo beautiful! I thought it was a great movie for 9 and up. But it was a little violent in some parts like when the Vikings attacked, but I thought they needed to show the violence because it was a good story about a time in the past.

This movie was good, but I have a few problems with it. Overall, it was probably a bit intense for little kids, but otherwise wonderful. My issues with it lie deeper than that. I enjoyed the fact that it played off of Irish culture, history, and fables, but it wasn't entirely accurate. One little thing I picked up was that most of the characters are redheads, but they fear the coming of the Vikings. Historically, the "typical" Irish red hair came from the Vikings, which would make it impossible for the movie characters to have red hair before their arrival. This doesn't make it a bad movie, I'm just nit-picking. One more significant problem is that I think it ends too early. The story is hardly resolved. The last few years of the story are summed up in a couple of minutes, which I thought did it little justice. Not to mention my favorite character, the spirit girl, is under used. I'd have like to have seen more of her. Despite my review so far, which I feel I should apologize for, the movie is beautiful. It's filled with gorgeous imagery, and the music is enchanting. See this film, and enjoy the fantasy of the Book of Kells. I also suggest looking up the real thing; incredible.

a girl sneeks into hades and the underworld cave and learns about zeus posidon and hades and getting away from danger