Flash Movie Review: Strange Magic
Their skin had a distinct glow that made it look like soft amber. Only their teeth, when revealed in a wide smile, could outshine the beauty of their skin. If one could pull their gaze from that face and widen it to include the rest of the body, they would see a sculpted form that would remain solid as a statue in any environment. There are some people whose heart would lasso such a being, letting their love wash all over them. Unfortunately they do not realize one very important reality; there is a slow moving poison pushing inside of them. I refer to this condition as “dark heart.” The individual may be the perfect fit for what you consider to be beautiful; however, there is darkness inside of them. You may remember I consider our bodies to be rented, that they are constantly in a state of change. So I put little emphasis on the external side of a person. I find someone who displays things like kindness, honesty and respect to be much more interesting. Things like hair and height have no relevance in determining if a person is a good human being or not. EVEN in a world inhabited by elves and fairies, true love can have a strong influence. When the Bog King, voiced by Alan Cumming (Spy Kids franchise, The Good Wife-TV), kidnapped Marrianne’s, voiced by Evan Rachel Wood (Across the Universe, The Ides of March), sister and held her hostage until he received a magical potion; it would take someone with a determined will to combat all the forces that were put in place. Based on a story by George Lucas (Star Wars franchise, American Graffiti), this animated fantasy was not only colorful to watch, it was one of the oddest movies I have seen in a while. The idea behind the story was solid and I could relate to it; however, having various characters break out into popular songs from the past decades to tell the story was weird. All the actors like Elijah Kelly (Hairspray, Red Tails) as Sunny and Kristin Chenoweth (The Boy Next Door, Glee-TV) as the Sugar Plum Fairy were in good voice, but I did not care too much for any of the characters that were voiced. The villain character was weak which contributed to me remaining bored throughout the movie. Honestly this film was not only dull it had little magic compared to recent animated films I have seen. I was so surprised to read later that George had been developing this story for years and finally pushed it forward to become a movie. All I can say is behind this pretty facade of a film there was only boring dreariness. There was an extra scene in the middle of the credits and at the end.
1 1/2 stars
Posted on January 29, 2015, in Fantasy/Sci-Fi and tagged 1 1/2 stars, alan cumming, animation, elves, evan rachel wood, fairies, family, fantasy, george lucas, goblins, kristin chenoweth. Bookmark the permalink. 9 Comments.
Bummer. I was hoping to take my 6-year-old nephew to see this movie.
6 year olds are likely not so easily bored?
I will say at the showing I attended the young children had little reaction one way or the other. It was a bit weird to me.
That is kinda weird, maybe they were crashing from all carbs in that popcorn & soda
Sounds like one for me to miss then, since I hardly ever make it to the movies anymore missing it will be simple
Love reading your blog! I am nominating it for the One Lovely Blog Award!
Thank you, it is very kind of you and I am touched you enjoy reading my reviews.
I thoroughly agree! There was entirely way too much singing (good grief!) and I wish the writers would’ve invested more time and fresh talent to write their own songs. The story was solid, like you said, and the imagery was beautiful. If they tried harder with the music, this movie could have given us another hit like “Let It Go” from Frozen. Too bad.
No truer words have been spoken; the writers really dropped the ball on this film. Thank you for stopping by to leave your comments.