Michael's Movie Grade: C+
An enjoyable little fantasy movie.
Though this movie may do little to stand out from so many similar films, it does provide a nice trip to the movies. Though this film is over two hours long, it goes by very quickly and there was never even one moment where it lost my interest. Even though the film moves at a quick pace, it never feels rushed. The main reason this film works though is the main characters. While they are not exactly deep characters, there is a real likability and charm to them. This is especially true of their relationships with each other. There is a real undeniable sweetness to the friendship between Edgin and Holga and the relationship between Edgin and his daughter provides much of the film's heart. This creates an emotional connection that makes us care about these characters and what happens to them. The movie also benefits from really fun action sequences and really good-looking special effects.
The comedy works, but one gets the feeling it should have worked better. There were plenty of times that I either smiled or chuckled at a gag that I felt like I was supposed to laugh out loud at. Though there are very few gags that don't work at all, there are also very few that are truly as funny as you would want from a film like this. The only scene that made me really laugh hard was the graveyard scene. Other than that, I was entertained by the humor here, but also disappointed at the same time.
The story in this movie is not bad but it is incredibly familiar. Nearly every scene reminded me of something I had seen in many other movies. The storyline itself is also incredibly predictable and almost everything that happened, I could see coming from a mile away. The fantasy world here is actually rather bland and never really felt real to me. This is an important element of any fantasy film and it is simply underwhelming here. This movie also suffers from having bland and boring villains, who simply feel like lesser versions of better villains from other films.
This may not be a great movie, but it does provide one with a nice trip to the movies.
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