Call them Minimoys, call them Invisibles, we’re still not entirely sure what the hell those little critters of Luc Besson’s are, but the people at the Vue Leicester Square this evening are significantly more excited about a certain cast member-cum-ultra hyper mega superstar than about some cute CGI. Tonight the whole thing’s about Madonna, who has a supporting role in the film – god we hope she Vogues for us.
When young Arthur (the ubiquitous and thoroughly nice Freddie Highmore) finds out that his grandparents’ house is in danger of being knocked down, he goes treasure hunting in the magical world of the Minimoys to try and save the day. Arthur and the Invisibles is Besson’s most visually adventurous film to date. Part live action, part computer animated, it took so long to make that Besson scribbled off a few children’s books about the characters in the meantime.
”The books I dashed off in maybe two weeks,” he said. “The film, a lot longer!” Five years to be exact, and it annoyed Besson so much that he took a break to make the quirky Parisian comedy Angel-A. “I couldn’t stand the film anymore,” he said. “It was so hard to do and after working with 300 computer guys I just wanted to go back to real shooting. I hate the process because when you spend 30 million euros and after two and a half years you’re still not seeing one second because they’re still calculating. It’s very frustrating. I’m used to grabbing the camera and actors, and screaming and laughing. Here you have to be patient.”
Patience has obviously paid-off because Besson’s next project is going to be the sequel: “I’m a little crazy but now I love it so much!”
While Madonna’s recent forays into actual acting haven’t exactly paid off (cough Swept Away cough) she’s back as the voice of Princess Selenia, the kick-ass heroine of the Minimoy world who also happens to be Arthur’s love interest. Arthur who is played by 14-year-old Freddie Highmore. Not creepy at all that really, is it?
“It might have been a bit odd if she was right next to me but I never actually met her,” grins Highmore. “Getting to do live action and animation at the same time was great though, it was a new thing for me to do the voiceover.”
Next thing you know, there’s absolute silence in the cinema foyer as Madonna, Guy Ritchie and family come up the red carpet. Photographers, PRs and journalists aren’t the most naturally quiet people in the world, but you could have heard a Minimoy drop. In fact, all the journalists seem to be so stunned that it was up to a child reporter to actually ask the questions to the diminuitive star, with everyone else mentally running through the dance routine to ‘Like A Virgin’.
”I like how tough (Selenia) was,” Madonna said. “She knew how to use a sword and I thought she was clever and intelligent. And the happy ending, the good guys win in the end.” Not exactly the most verbose red carpet interview we’ve ever had – that was three answers right there – but on the other hand, we’ve just stared at Madonna. And Luc Besson. We’re quite fine with that.