After being banished from the kingdom of Dor for wanting to be a knight, Despereaux, a mouse with over-sized ears, sets off with his friend Roscuro on a quest to rescue a princess and save the kingdom from darkness.

An unusually brave mouse helps to restore happiness to a forlorn kingdom after making friends with a gentleman rat.

I enjoyed the story as an animated "hero tale" set in a pseudo-Renaissance milieu. ( )

The movie spends nearly the first hour on what basically amounts to four different false starts that end up only doing set up work. Once that's finally done, however, the movie really shines, with impressively complex and honest characterisations and plotting for a children's film. The movie it is by the end deserves four stars, perhaps more, the movie it starts out as deserves three, perhaps less, so I'm meeting in the middle. And bonus points for an utterly amazingly star-studded voice cast. Macy and Weaver in particular positively sparkle here. ( )

An excellent story of bravery which shows that standing out and following one's own ideals can lead to amazing adventures. This movie is based off of the 2004 Newberry Medal winning book and is faithful to the message and the text. The movie has excellent voice acting from veterans such as Kevin Kline, Dustin Hoffman, and Matthew Broderick.

I loved this movie just as much as the book. I thought it captured a serious and at times scary tone while never going too dark as to put younger kids off. I think courage is always a virtue worth instilling in children and who better to show them how than a mouse, someone even smaller than themselves. Very clever. Despereaux is a perfect children's hero and this film is very enjoyable, even for adults. ( )