RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

mlwitvliet The secret garden is an amazing story at itself. So the idea of making a sequel is not a bad one.This sequel has one big problem however; They first should have sad down an watch the original movie and than make a story line for this sequel."the secret garden" is a great story that leaves enough leads to follow and make a great sequel. So why the vanishing door and the key which is thrown in the lake but suddenly sticks in the door? Is it a sequel on the secret garden or is it a sequel on Harry Potter? This really ruined it for me Conclusion: the story line is not bad an the filming and atmosphere of the movie is excellent and if they would have followed the original movie it would have received much better critics from me. As it is: 6 out of 10.

vchimpanzee In 1946, after her husband becomes British ambassador to the United States, Lady Mary Craven must leave the Misslethwaite orphanage in England. She puts Martha in charge, although Martha doesn't feel quite ready. Part of Martha's duty will be to keep the key that opens the door to the secret garden Martha's late husband started. The garden is not in the best of shape, and Martha cannot see how Mary found the door when Mary opens it for her.When Mary leaves, she announces that Penelope will be able to go the United States to have an operation she can only get there, and that an orphan from the United States will be chosen to take Penelope's place while she is gone.Once in the United States, Mary visits an orphanage outside Washington, D.C. and finds several children interested in going to England. But Mary chooses Lizzie, a loner who loves taking care of the garden.After Martha is on her own, she looks and looks and can only see ivy covering the stone wall. So she has an opening made for a new door.Lizzie arrives at Misslethwaite and immediately learns to break the rules. She loves the secret garden and sneaks in, and she discovers that door Martha can't find from the outside. The animals in the garden love Lizzie and gather around her. Martha soon realizes Lizzie was meant to care for the garden and puts her in charge of the key.There is the usual boy-girl romance and love-triangle story one might expect here, and more breaking of rules, with appropriate consequences.The big question: will Lizzie be able to make the garden what it once was?I probably watched a movie called "The Secret Garden" but don't have any memory of it. Whether it was one of the great classics I can't say, but that's what I recall. This sequel wouldn't rank that high, but it is still very good. and if I can't remember the original, I have no problems with anything that might not be consistent with that movie.Joan Plowright gives her usual wonderful performance. There are many other very good performances here. Camilla Belle starts off slow but eventually shows talent matching that of the others.This is a movie kids can watch, but it has plenty of adult content (the good kind, meaning intelligent writing) which their parents can enjoy too. In fact, one doesn't even need to have kids to watch this.I am curious as to whether some of the expressions used by the kids were actually in people's vocabularies back in 1946. Nevertheless, today's kids will like hearing them.It's a good family film.

smfurgerson I love the positive aspects of this film. It was a pleasure to see that Hallmark had taken a chance at moving on from the original... and doing a wonderful job.This film gives both young and old the idea of continuity. The restoration of the garden by yet another child's faith is something to be respected.One could see some of the similarities of Lizzie to Dickon from the very first glimpse of the child... and like Mary before her, Lizzie had to 'steal' the garden before she was able to do good with it.Like the first one, it will remain on my favorite 'watch list' for a long time to come.

cjnb Michael Tuchner's follow-up to The Secret Garden is a far less inspired outing than it's 1993 predecessor, but never the less still passes muster thanks to some cutesy performances and even cuter scenarios, courtesy cast and filmmaker. As with most low-key sequels, Back to the Secret Garden follows the path of a new bunch of characters, all, of course, experiencing the joy of the titular garden. Lizzie, orphaned American lass, finds herself laying her bed in the same manor where the events of the first film occurred. Miss Sowerby (Joan Plowright), is the be all and end all of the said garden, but under her watchful eye, Lizzie discovers the said place, a place of faith, courage and determination. Back to The Secret Garden, like the first film, has some lovely messages in there for the littlies. While at the same time, giving Mum's a break from that well worn VHS of the original to put something else in the machine for a while. Follow this path for further inspiration.