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Genre: CG Animation/Children
Director: Iginio Straffi
Cast: Letizia Ciampa, Chris Kent, Perla Liberatori,
Katie McGovern
RunTime: 1 hr 25 mins
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Rating: PG
Official Website: http://www.winxclubthemovie.com/
Opening Day: 20 November 2008
Synopsis:
16 years ago the most powerful warrior wizards of the Magic
Dimension sacrificed themselves to fight against absolute
evil. Now the fate of a kingdom is in the hands of a young
girl: Bloom, the fairy of the Dragon’s flame. Accompanied
as usual by her Winx Club girlfriends, Bloom must face the
biggest challenge: enter the depths of the obscure dimension
and fight against absolute evil in order to bring her parents
back to life and finally reveal the mystery linked to her
origins. Will Bloom, Flora, Stella, Aisha, Musa and Tecna
succeed in defeating the most terrifying creatures of her
nightmares and find again the last king of Domino? And will
Bloom manage to save the lost kingdom and finally become Princess
of Domino? The destiny of the entire Magic Dimension depends
on the outcome of this conflict.
Movie Review:
You’ve heard all these somewhere before: believe in
yourself; look inside your heart; trust those who love you;
courage is the greatest gift of all, blah blah blah. And before
you scorn the messages this animated feature wants you take
home after the credits roll, you must one understand who this
movie is made for. What, you were expecting something more
sophisticated when the movie poster’s bright pink background
is staring straight at you? And do the six cutesy girlish
fairies tell you nothing at all?
So,
this 20 something male reviewer decides to imagine himself
as a 10 year old and sit through this giggly affair. No, there
was no urge to leave the cinema hall halfway, simply because
there is so much joy and delight from the kids around him
(mostly girls, as you’ve expected) that he figured that
he won’t be a rude spoilsport by walking out in the
middle of the movie.
Based
on a 2004 Italian animated fantasy adventure series, this
3D CGI feature movie is dubbed in English and takes place
after the series’ third season (four seasons have been
produced already). The protagonist of the show is Bloom, and
together with her other five fairy friends, they are on a
mission to uncover the secret of the lost kingdom (hence the
movie title, get it?). She is also on the search for her parents
whom she has lost since young. Along the way, they meet with
an evil force which turns things upside down and create chaos
in the happy airy fairyland. Can the six fairies save the
day? But of course!
While
every kid in the audience already knows that good will triumph
over evil by the end of the movie, each one of them will sit
tight in their comfortable seats as Bloom, Flora, Stella,
Musa, Techna and Layla look pretty in their fairy outfits
while fighting the evilly ugly witches and monsters. What
kind of names are “Bloom”, “Flora”,
“Stella”, “Musa”, “Techna”
and “Layla” again? Fairy names of course!
From
the moment the title song “Enchantix” starts playing,
keeping the movie tempo upbeat with poppy melodies and similarly
catchy lyrics like “Shining fairy powder pouring on
me/ Magic Enchantix/ My powers will be at the maximum/ I’m
invincible/ I’m ready to go”, there is no way
any young girl from six to 12 years old can resist the charm.
Expect an unstoppable swarm of franchised products like toys,
clothes and books, if there aren’t any already.
We
love how each fairy has a unique power in areas like music,
water, technology and plants. It makes things so much easier
to follow in the colorfully crammed CGI animation. While the
animation techniques are by no means Pixar standards (it’s
going to be difficult surpassing that animation giant), the
production values are not shoddy either. There are certain
adorably animated animal creatures and pixies that will fascinate
you with its sheer cuteness.
So
while the kids are kept amused, what are the adults supposed
to look out for? Well, there are a few decent action sequences,
a few pop culture influenced lines (sample: “With great
powers come great popularity”), naughtily titled songs
like “Only a Girl” and “You Made Me a Woman”,
and for the boys, there is a scene where the fairies shed
their hooded cloaks to transform into their glittery outfits
– were those animated topless fairies we saw? Maybe
their magic powers left us with the power to imagine things.
Movie Rating:
(A cutesy fairy cartoon best enjoyed by young girls
aged six to 12)
Review by John Li
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