Movie Info

The film opens with Mortimer "Mo" Folchart (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Teresa "Resa" Folchart (Sienna Guillory) reading the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood" to their baby daughter Meggie, as a red velvet hood appears out of nowhere. Twelve years later, Meggie (Eliza Bennett) and her father visit an old book shop in Europe, unaware that Mo is secretly looking for a copy of the book Inkheart. Meggie finds it. Shortly thereafter, she encounters a marten with horns outside the shop, who tries to bite her fingers. A man (Paul Bettany) suddenly appears from the shadows, claiming to be an old friend. Mo comes out of the shop, recognizing the man as Dustfinger, who quickly asks him to read him back into the book. Mo flees with Meggie.

Mo takes Meggie to visit her great-aunt Elinor (Helen Mirren) in Italy. There he tells Meggie that nine years ago, reading to her from Inkheart, he inadvertently freed Dustfinger, a fire dancer, due to a gift he possessed from birth. Unfortunately, the book's villain, Capricorn (Andy Serkis), and his henchmen were also freed. Fleeing with his infant daughter, Mo lost Resa. Dustfinger and Capricorn's minion, Basta (Jamie Foreman), arrive. Basta captures the group and takes Inkheart, destroying Elinor's library. They are taken to Capricorn's new castle in the real world. During their imprisonment, Mo explains his gift to Meggie and Elinor, stating that when he reads a person or an object out of a book, someone from the real world is sent into it, hence his wife's disappearance. Capricorn forces Mo to use his gift, acquiring treasure from one of the stories in The Arabian Nights, and imprisoning Farid (Rafi Gavron), one of the 40 Thieves. Dustfinger, who was promised a return into the book, is betrayed by Capricorn. Nevertheless, the group escapes using the tornadofrom The Wizard of Oz.

Meggie proposes to search for the author of Inkheart, Fenoglio (named in honor of Italian writer Beppe Fenoglio), as he may have another copy. Elinor leaves to recover what is left of her library as the others head for the author's town, Alassio. Dustfinger is initially afraid of learning his fate in the book, but later joins them. When they meet Fenoglio (Jim Broadbent), the author's ecstatic mood upon seeing his creation alive makes Dustfinger realize he dies at the end, trying to save his marten, Gwin. Angry, he berates Fenoglio before eventually telling Mo that Resa is trapped in the castle and has lost her voice.

Mo and Dustfinger take Fenoglio's car; Farid stows away in the trunk. At Fenoglio's house, Meggie begins reading a number of books out loud, bringing Toto from The Wizard of Oz. Basta bursts in with his men. Noticing Toto, he takes them to Capricorn. Elinor, who decided not to take the train home, realizes something was amiss and pursues them. At the castle, Capricorn reveals he plans to bring the Shadow, the monster of Inkheart. He threatens to harm Meggie's mother if she does not comply. Mo sneaks into the castle. Dustfinger is captured, but escapes after Meggie informs him of Capricorn's intentions.

Mo attempts to free Meggie and others, as Capricorn forces her to bring the Shadow. Dustfinger returns to the castle with Farid, setting it alight. The distraction allows Fenoglio to give Toto a rewrite he made to help Meggie stop Capricorn's plan. As Elinor arrives with the creatures Capricorn imprisoned, Meggie writes out the story on her arm. As she reads out her creation, Capricorn turns into dust, his henchmen and the Shadow vanish, and all the read-out creatures back are returned where they belong, including Toto. In addition, she grants Fenoglio's wish to live in the world he created, while reuniting her and Mo with her mother and restoring her voice. In the end, Dustfinger is also safely read back into Inkheart, where he is reunited with his wife Roxanne. In the real world, Farid reveals he kept Gwin with him, thus allowing Dustfinger to avoid his fate and have control over his destiny. As Mo and his family leave with Farid, Meggie agrees to teach him how to read while Farid agrees to teach her how to use the dragon breath, the fire breathing ability of Dustfinger's which Farid learnt.