To start off, this is a movie I hadn't heard of. One time while I was at the gym on the treadmill, one of the T.V.s had this movie on. It was on mute with closed captioning. It looked like a kid movie, yet it was more entertaining than the other things on T.V. like sports and the news. I was entertained with how much of it I saw while running the treadmill, and decided to rent it.
I saw this movie, and even as an adult I loved it. Too bad it doesn't have the best reviews. I'll be a person that gives this movie a positive review. But, first I want to compare this to a story involving magic that we're all familiar with, Harry Potter. I've read the Harry Potter books and enjoyed them. I think they're clever, and I think the story of how J.K. Rowling didn't have the book originally published, but didn't give up and is now the second richest woman in England is very inspirational. At the same time, I think Harry Potter is extremely overrated and has its flaws in the book. One of the flaws, is I feel like the book focuses too much on the wizarding world, and not enough on the real world, and doesn't leave us with enough good messages, which I felt that this movie was inspirational, relatable, and left us with good messages.
Now saying how Harry Potter is about a boy that's a wizard, this movie is about a boy named Bobby. The movie starts when he's 5, but we mostly see him as a 12-year old. He isn't considered a wizard, but a boy that is interested in magic, wanting to be a magician. Also, a shy boy who has a dog named Ozzy. He got that dog early in the movie, when it was stray not knowing the dog is very old and part of the wizarding community. Bobby walks everywhere with Ozzy, even places that you think normally wouldn't allow dogs. While Bobby looks for a book on magic, he really becomes a magician, and Ozzie immediately becomes more real. However, the main wizard villain is after the book too, and Bobby quickly learns that he is the chosen one.
This movie has wizarding action. The kind of action we like to see in movies that involve wizards and action. This action to me, felt more realistic than the action we see in Harry Potter. The magic tricks felt like real magic tricks that we could imagine seeing in a magic show. I'll say that in the Harry Potter Universe, the magic in it doesn't feel much like magic, but just part of the wizarding world. What the wizards have and are capable of. This movie gave more of a feel of what we think of as magic.
Another thing to say which I feel like this scene alone beats Harry Potter. I'd say the scariest scene in the movie, was a scene involving a suit of armor. I don't want to spoil it and say what happens, but that scene felt too real while watching it. It was very well done!! It could make you imagine being in the same situation.
I feel like this movie could be even scarier than Harry Potter, because a lot of the things felt more real. I'm not saying this movie was too scary, definitely not. But, it did have scary scenes, especially the scene I mentioned above. You also really feel for the characters, and you hope Bobby can succeed at magic, along with getting money to help his mom who is having trouble paying for the house.
I don't see why people don't like this movie? It's family friendly and at the same time has scary scenes. But, it really offers a perspective and good message. Sometimes, we have to believe in ourselves, along with getting ourselves out, not just being so shy. To me those messages came to me more than the messages from the Harry Potter books. I'd consider this a completely different story than Harry Potter, and a little better. I'd recommend this to you. But if you're like most of these other people reviewing the movie, you might not like it. If you're like me, and if what I posted above makes this movie sound interesting, you'll like it.
