In "Come Away," audiences will either, approach the children's story retelling with Angelina Jolie excited to see the "Tomb Raider" heroine back on screens, or if they're as imaginative as the story, come happily expecting the rare juxtaposition of children classics.

This is the newest project from director Brenda Chapman, who dons a directing and screenwriting cap for her work in Disney's 2012 "Brave". The director was also behind DreamWorks 1998 animated "The Prince of Egypt," so seeing her return to the children's fantasy landscape felt very appropriate.

The tale involves those as old as any, and it's not often you find someone who can't name the main plot points of both Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. Yet, in "Come Away," Alice and Peter are brother and sister, a new tale presenting the two and their older brother David as members of the Littleton family. The three are a fantastical trio of siblings, embarking on courtyard adventures and lakeside battles in which their imagination is as clear to the viewer as it is to the children. Weaving these dream states between reality keeps with the fantastical flair, though the same can't be said for the uttermost moment of loss, when David tragically loses his life in a lightning storm. Children's movies always got to go for that early on heartache.

Nevertheless, what follows is a demonstration of how parents, Angelina Jolie's Rose Littleton and David Oyelowo's Jack Littleton, and children become affected by the tragedy of losing a best friend, and promising scholar, both characterized in the eldest son David. The movie captures the coping methods they all adopt for handling their present situation.

The key to moving through a film like this, namely one with an interesting blend of star power and intriguing story, is to set standards unlike those for Pixar or Walt Disney Animations. The pairing of these two children's stories is a large enough draw to book any curious mind, but here's a point to encourage those who are skeptical. This movie isn't solely a blending of the two stories. It comes off as more of a dramatic tale, that occasionally presents children's dreams as escapes, but doesn't maintain the fantasy for the film to feel charming or spirited.

The sequences that will impress are when the film takes the full dive into make-believe and gives creative control to the children, capturing their fantasies as vividly as we can imagine. I would recommend this movie to those who are interested in seeing how the tales of Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland could be told together, but not for those seeking the same thrills and adventure made popular from the original material.

"Come Away" releases on November 13th both in theaters and on-demand.

COME AWAY Official Trailer (2021) Angelina Jolie, Fantasy Movie HDwww.youtube.com