 Not all reviews were as positive, Claudia Puig of "USA Today" wrote that "for a movie about the power of imagination, "Bridge to Terabithia" is not as clever as you would hope".Puig called the film a "serviceable translation" of the novel, but thought the adult characters were caricatured.Puig found the real-life portions of the movie were "derivative and simplistic", but found Jess's emotional tumult felt "powerfully authentic, and this is where the film finds its truth and soul".