Casper is a kind young ghost who peacefully haunts a mansion in Maine. When specialist James Harvey arrives to communicate with Casper and his fellow spirits, he brings along his teenage daughter, Kat. Casper quickly falls in love with Kat, but their budding relationship is complicated not only by his transparent state, but also by his troublemaking apparition uncles and their mischievous antics.
Casper's movie is not the cleverest one around, but its hero may be the most lovable.
– Caryn James,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
fresh:
The set design, however, merely disguises what is in fact an intimate and likeable picture.
– Wally Hammond,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
rotten:
Once the audience has become inured to the wide-eyed protagonist and impressive digitized effects, there's little sense of wonder or awe to be found.
– Brian Lowry,
Variety,
18 Apr 2007
rotten:
It's not clear why Steven Spielberg's Amblin decided to make a live-action entertainment starring the least interesting and most saccharine of all 50s cartoon characters.