The NeverEnding Story II - The Next Chapter

Filled with a few imaginative moments and a child actor who looks like a miniaturized Sharon Stone, II isn't as neverending as the third headache in the series, but it's not on par with the original. Versions of Atreyu, the brave warrior, Rockbiter, and Falcor, that flying, pink, poodle-dragon, return to travel across the storybook world of Fantasia. This time our protagonist and reader, Bastian, is actually in the story the entire time instead of looking on from outside the pages. The interaction doesn't help, as it's the same crisis and the same story line (well, okay, he is reading the same book), but at least the film is not as unrelentingly melancholy as the first one either. Children may be frightened by the "giants," large dung beetles on two legs, that threaten our heroes. --Keith Simanton