This should have been a perfect movie for Peter Jackson, with two films in his past looming large over his adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones.

In adapting Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Jackson was able to capture the essence, mystery and scope of the source material, breathing life into each of its characters and injecting a thrilling pace to the events.

He pushed technical boundaries and succeeded in bringing the heart of the books to the screen. The adaptation of the Tolkien classic set a very high standard for Jackson, and this is one of his previous films which is brought to bare on The Lovely Bones.

The beautiful, suffocating teenage angst of Heavenly Creatures is the second, when I saw the trailer for The Lovely Bones with its enormous fleet of ships in bottles crashing through the glass as they smashed into the shore I thought here was a call back to the dizzying flights of fancy of Jackson’s 1994 film. Surely the novel’s themes of burgeoning, youthful love and unspeakable violence link the two films? I remembered how capably Jackson was able to engage us in the doomed real life story of Pauline and Juliet, how the tone of the film swung from ecstasy and annihilation and swept its audience along.

How was it that Jackson missed the mark with The Lovely Bones? The story is engaging and simple, its uniqueness belies its straightforward narrative and it should have been very easy for Jackson to bring the characters to life without resorting to what is essentially a patchwork of ill-judged tonal judders, bizarre characters who appear to have wandered in from a different film, a heroine whose pain and torment so keenly felt in the source material who is detached and whimsical on screen, and finally, and most surprisingly, sequences drowned in badly designed CGI.

There were moments of greatness in amongst the mess – the scene in which Susie ‘escapes’ her attacker and runs through her town which is rendered in bleak, dull tones, intercutting with the brightness of her father, played by Mark Wahlberg in his ‘I’m a TEACHER’ mode from The Happening, searching for her in the same streets. This is Jackson at his best, giving us a cinematic and visually stunning evocation of life and death. Saoirse Ronan plays Susie very well, with enough youthful naivety to play dutifully on the heartstrings. If only she remained, as in the book, the eye of the storm.

Rachel Weisz as Susie’s mother fares less better, but only because she is reduced to hysterics and placation, leaving the film half way through and then returning at the end carrying with her exactly zero emotional resonance. Susan Sarandon is initially a fun character, but what she is given to do is essentially be a comedy grandmother in a brief and alarmingly incongruous slapstick montage.

Stanley Tucci is up for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar and it is true that he is among the film’s very few shining stars, but his sleazy performance veers wildly between cliche and terror with no anchor keeping him grounded in any kind of reality. Another example of Jackson’s visual inventiveness is the use of Tucci’s character’s obsession with building doll’s houses, and the shots of him peering King Kong like into the tiny windows of the tiny houses are diverting but ultimately lead nowhere.

While the novel is clear in its intent and the emotional heart is Susie’s pining for her lost life, and while the characters go through the motions of loss and grief, the limbo state Susie spends most of the film in, both literally and emotionally, has no depth and while I felt every pang of her heart in the novel what this film does is reduce Susie to a bystander in her own story. The deluge of CG landscape is less dreamlike and more of a computer animated showreel, and I breathed a sigh of relief when the film moved to real, tangible locations.

Peter Jackson has given us many wonderful films, and is part of a very talented production team, I will watch every film the man puts out but I will never suffer The Lovely Bones again. The potential of this film to be a powerful study of life after death combined with a suspenseful search for Susie’s killer should have been a haunting addition to Jackson’s filmography, instead we have a mismatched narrative and characters running through a series of emotional and dramatic checklists, swimming in a sea of CG, with no land in sight.

Yahoo Movies recently caught up with the cast and crew of The Lovely Bones which is directed by Peter Jackson and stars Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci and Michael Imperioli. The story is about Susie Salmon, a young girl who has been murdered, watching over her family — and her killer — from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.

The Lovely Bones is based on the book of the same name written by Alice Sebold. It had it’s Royal world premiere right here in London last month and it’ll be released in cinemas 29th January.

Check out the footage and interviews below or head over to Yahoo to view in HD.

It feels like ages ago since the World premiere (photos here) of Peter Jackson’s latest movie The Lovely Bones but finally 2010 is here which means the move that stars Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli, Saoirse Ronan is nearly with us.

Synopsis: Based on the critically acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, and directed by Oscar® winner Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Jackson & Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens, “The Lovely Bones” centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family – and her killer – from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal. Oscar® nominee Mark Wahlberg and Oscar® winners Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon star along with Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli and Oscar® nominee Saoirse Ronan.

The Lovely Bones is going to be on our screens 29th January and we hope to have a review of the movie coming soon. Below we have a new interview which was conducted by the guys over at ComingSoon.net for your viewing pleasure.

We’ve just received some wonderful footage from the Royal World Premiere of Peter Jackson’s ‘The Lovely Bones’ from London’s Leicester Square last night. The footage contains interviews with Peter Jackson, Susan Sarandon, Michael Imperioli, Saoirse Ronan, Reece Ritchie and Rose McIver. Unfortauntely Rachel Weisz and Mark Wahlberg who also star in the movie we’re in attendance.

HRH The Prince of Wales and Camilla turned out in the rain and met the cast and it was even though the British weather stayed true to form, it didn’t dampen spirits! Check out the footage below.

The Lovely Bones is out 29th January, and you can see photos from the Royal World Premiere here.

At the risk of giving you all a Lovely Bones overdose, here’s a brand new poster and two new clips to coincide with the Royal World Premiere which took place in London tonight. We have some photos from the evening which you can check out here.

The new poster is as beautiful as everything else that we’ve seen of this movie and although we didn’t make it to the world premiere, we’re hoping that we’ll get a screening soon so we can bring you our review.

The poster (click it above to enlarge) and one of the clips debuted on MySpace earlier this evening with the other being hosted on MSN (which you’ll have to visit as it won’t let me embed it). The Lovely Bones is directed by Peter Jackson and has a great cast which includes Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli and Saoirse Ronan. It’s out 29th January and is based on the critically acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold.

“The Lovely Bones” centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family ““ and her killer ““ from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal. Oscar® nominee Mark Wahlberg and Oscar® winners Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon star along with Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli and Oscar® nominee Saoirse Ronan.

Check out the clips below and make sure you watch out for this one early 2010.

The Lovely Bones Exclusive Clip

The Lovely Bones had it’s Royal world premiere this evening in London’s Leicester Square. Unfortunately HeyUGuys weren’t invited along to this one but we’ve managed to acquire some photos from the evening.

The movie is directed by Peter Jackson and stars Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli and Saoirse Ronan. HRH The Prince of Wales (Prince Charles) and Camilla were in attendance at the evening and it looks like a jolly good do!

The Lovely Bones isn’t out until 29th January but you can check out the trailer here or click the images below to enlarge. Thanks to Getty for providing the images.

A brand new International trailer for Peter Jackson’s ‘The Lovely Bones’ had been released on French website, www.allocine.fr. The Lovely Bones stars Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli, Saoirse Ronan and is scheduled for release 29th January 2010.

Synopsis: Based on the critically acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, and directed by Oscar® winner Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Jackson & Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens, “The Lovely Bones” centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family ““ and her killer ““ from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal. Oscar® nominee Mark Wahlberg and Oscar® winners Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon star along with Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli and Oscar® nominee Saoirse Ronan.