If this was supposed to be a fantasy movie than I have to say that it absolutely failed at it!
No, I'm not saying that this is a terrible movie but as a fantasy movie it's a terribly lacking one, that's taking on a totally wrong approach and is lacking a good visual style and atmosphere to it.
That's really the biggest problem of the movie; it just never ever looks or feels like a fantasy movie. Not sure what the film-makers were trying to achieve but it seems to me that they tried to create a fantasy movie that was set in the real world, with also a realistic feeling to it, till a certain extend of course. The first half of the movie definitely appears like a very dry and serious one and there is not much about that indicates that this movie is going to turn into a full blown fantasy flick at one point.
The visually style feels all wrong. This isn't a very lively or fun looking movie. It feels mostly cold, bleak and lifeless instead (and not in a Gothic type of way), no matter how great some of the characters actually are. You really feel that with a different director, who is capable of delivering a movie with a more distinctive and effective visual style, this movie could have been a much better and also definitely far more entertaining one.
The movie as it is is even somewhat boring and slow at parts, especially at the start of it. The second half of the movie is better, mostly because there is more happening in it but it still isn't enough to fully save this movie. Especially not when the movie starts to go overboard with its fantasy elements. Seriously, from being a very dry and serious one the movie suddenly started to turn into a very over-the-top and silly one. The contrast of it was a big too great, if you would ask me and it didn't really worked out that well. I actually started to loose interest in the movie, once it kept throwing all sorts of different fantasy elements and fancy looking special effects at me.
But oh well, there still are some good things about the movie as well. As I mentioned before, it has some pretty good characters in it and some fine dialog as well. The acting is besides pretty good, with fine actors such as Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis and Emma Thompson involved but also some unknown and young ones. The main roles are played by the young Alice Englert and Alden Ehrenreich and they certainly did a pretty job with their roles. The only complaint about it is that their characters are supposed to be some 15 and 16-year old's, while they actually in fact look closer to their 20's. But that of course isn't anything unusual for a big budget movie of this sort.
The movie and its concept clearly showed plenty of potential but the end result is a pretty lacking- and just not all that entertaining fantasy flick, aimed mostly toward teenagers and young adults.
5/10
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