Wizards (1977)
…………………………………………………
Wizards Movie Review
Wizards is a 1977 animated fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi. It’s a frustratingly flawed movie which is still undoubtedly one of the director’s best flicks.
………………………………………………….
“I’m too old for this sort of thing.
Just wake me up when the planet’s destroyed“
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
The film is about a battle between the forces of magic and the forces of industrial revolution. Much has been said by critics how this film is as subtle as an earthquake and I entirely agree. The premise itself is excellent for a strong fantasy story, but the thematic execution is quite troublesome as the movie for example incorporated Nazi scenes where they are seen in propaganda form and that was just too on the nose and simply not fitting in this world.
Still, it’s a very interesting story that is simplistic for sure, but very much complex in terms of world building and detail work. I loved the narration at the beginning as it was wonderfully traditional and perfect for a fantasy story. The third act also has some really fine battles and action scenes. But the middle parts are unfortunately rather flawed as they feature many badly paced, forgettable and overall uneventful sequences.
The characters are by far the weakest part of this otherwise solid movie which really stumbled in this particular department. That’s because its runtime of just 80 minutes and its vast world really did not allow for stronger characterization. It definitely needed to be longer how epic it is. I did find Avatar to be memorable, but Elinore and the other female characters are frustratingly sexualized in a typical Bakshi fashion. The voice acting is better than in his previous films though.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
Wizards features very strong animation for 70s standards. The characters are well designed for the most part and I appreciated the plethora of races and creatures here. The animation isn’t as smooth, but it’s certainly pleasingly colored and particularly great at establishing the darker mood and atmosphere that is prevalent from the beginning. Some of the imagery is really outstanding.
The world building is, as I said above, simply magnificent and easily the film’s proudest achievement. While it is overly short to capitalize on its epic story and world, we still get to see quite a bit of it in terms of places and scenery. The world and story as well as the creatures that inhibit it are so well thought out that they deserved a much better end product in my opinion.
The score is also pretty good, but the sound design can be too amateurish in some instances. The dialogue is for the most part satisfactory and the same goes for the film’s pacing which only struggled in the second act. The humor can be mediocre, but the line that was a nod to ‘Fritz the Cat’ certainly cracked me up. The action sequences are also surprisingly well executed and quite entertaining.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
I find Ralph Bakshi’s direction here to be pretty strong, but it still has many of his pitfalls including an over-reliance on violence and particularly nudity. Those were not needed here at all, but he just could not help himself. I would like to compliment him for finally moving away from urban dramas at this period in his career, but he still showed a lack of professionalism that consistently bothers me when it comes to his output.
Wizards was a welcome change in pace for Ralph Bakshi who finally moved away from urban dramas to create his first fantasy picture and the results are solid and one of his best, but still frustratingly flawed. The film is unsubtle in its thematic approach and the middle parts are lacking in terms of plot development and pacing. The characterization is also quite weak. However, the animation is very strong, the premise is excellent and the film gives us an outstanding, well detailed and vast world thanks to evident attention to detail and terrific world building. It definitely needed a longer runtime to properly capitalize on its epic nature.
