By Nick Nitkowski

I’m sure that goes without saying that this film was never on anyone’s most anticipated films of 2024 list. It certainly was never on my list. Moreso to the point, I most likely would never have given this film my personal free time to see it. And yet, Here I am reviewing it for you. All I can do is sit down, watch it, and hope for the best while also preparing for the worst. 

“Harold and the Purple Crayon” stars Zachary Levi of “Shazam!” fame (mostly) as the title character and is a very loose adaptation of the real-life children’s stories of the same name about a guy named Harold who was created with a magical purple crayon that he uses to draw whatever he wants and it magically becomes real. I say loose adaptation because it is in the same vein as the “Goosebumps” movies are an adaptation of the popular book series. Meaning that they mostly take elements of the existing stories and incorporate them to tell a different story for the film. 

This is, however, a story we’ve seen before. Fictional characters from a world of fantasy find their way into the real world discovering everything for the first time while on a journey to find someone. Sound familiar? Of course, there have been many stories that have a similar premise to others. Any one thing can be compared to another thing that exists. What makes one different from the other is all about the execution of the story. So how was this one?

To my surprise, it’s not that bad. It’s definitely flawed, of course, but it did have some enjoyable moments. It is simple and cute and I think families will enjoy it. I mention Zachary Levi as Shazam because he’s good at portraying a kid in an adult body and he pretty much does the same thing here in this movie. It seems to be one of his strengths. Zooey Deschanel plays the mom of a kid, played by Benjamin Bottani with an imaginary friend and of course, she doesn’t believe in the magic happening all around her. Harold is also accompanied by the friends he drew named Moose and Porcupine, played by Lil Rey Howery and Tanya Reynolds, and they provide most of the fish-out-of-water trope of comedy alongside Zachary Levi’s character. Jemaine Clement plays a down-on-his-luck author/librarian who seeks the power of the purple crayon once he discovers it. He provided the awkward comedy in this film. All the actors in the film understood the assignment. They were not award-winning in terms of their acting, but they did what the script asked and did it well.

The movie itself is very bright and provides a very happy feel. It provides lots of childlike imagination and wonder especially when it comes to the use of the crayon. It even opens with an animation of Harold’s world. It also has a lot of silly moments. Some of the comedy made me chuckle, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t. Not every joke landed, and I’m sure that the film itself will not be critically acclaimed, but the important thing is that I saw both children and adults in the auditorium enjoying what they were seeing. This movie may not cater to the average moviegoer or film critics, but it does cater to families. So, if you’re looking for a harmless movie to take your family to see together, I’d say that it’s safe to say that you can draw this one up as a safe bet. 

3/5 stars