Sadly Over-hyped

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

First off, I got this movie from my mom when I was a kid and didn't watch it until years later. By the time I actually unwrapped it and put it in the DVD player I was already a through and through Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan-boy. That being said, (after talking with Bob) I laughed my but off for the entirety of the movie. The plot is a mash up of LOTR, Harry Potter, and I think Narnia. The acting was so bad I laughed myself to tears. The movie takes itself completely seriously throughout (which only adds to the amusement) and the behind the seems will make you laugh even harder. I would believe it if someone told me the film was just a recording of some LARPers doing their thing. I will be buying this online so I can enjoy the laughs with my movie buds very soon!

OK lets get started. For one, I'd like to say, this is the worst movie ever made! When I first watched it, I laughed my head off. It's like, so bad, you actually laugh. So if your feeling sad, watch this movie! This movie is about a boy named Max. He does magic tricks, and is friends with a lame mouse. He's bullied at school by boys who think there cool but really are stupid. The acting is so bad, it's a wonder why they made this movie into a real movie. Like, HELLO! Can't you see this movie is sooo bad, it's funny? That's not a good thing. Anyways, Max runs to his neighbors house and he gives Max a book. He said, "I'll always be watching you Max" or something like that. Can you say, Stalker? And his mouse friend comes alive when they enter the magical world. This stupid mouse won't stop laughing! And his parents are like total opposites! The Dad is like, "Sure son, you can have a wild mouse as a pet" He didn't really say that. And the mom is like, "No you cannot have a wild mouse!" And a funny part in the movie is when the queen is talking to Lord Dagda. The person who plays the queen is the person who plays Max's mom. Di9d they like run out of actors or what! This is the worst movie ever made. But watch it cause it's so freaking funny!

Sorry Greg, but inferring that the bad reviews were written by "other film makers or actors who are jealous" just doesn't wash-the vast majority of these reviews were written by people who, like me, picked this film up in a bargain bin, curious to see what it was. This boneheaded dreck stands on it's own; there is no way any review can really prepare the viewer for this laughable clunker, or possibly spoil it! This has to be seen to be believed. The only way this compares to the "Harry Potter" or "Lord of the Rings" films is the fantasy theme.That's it.This is certainly classic bad cinema of the first order-across the board ineptitude that takes itself utterly seriously. The production values on display here aren't "Lord of the Rings", they are "Plan 9 from Outer Space"! The plot has more loose ends than a bag of snakes. It's a good thing the dialog drags so much; it gives the young hero Max enough time to flip through the pages of the magic book and laboriously read the text to find the spell he needs. The "training" sequence with the useless blunt stick was so weak my jaw dropped while I watched in disbelief. The only character with metal weapons is Red Cap, who at the beginning is rather deadly with his axe; later in the film he has inexplicably forgotten how to use any of the several knives, axes and maces he has strapped on and is defeated by a small boy who vacantly swats and pokes him with a stick. The good guys all fight with two-foot long blunt sticks, the bad guys have blunt sticks with the marvelous technical improvement of foam heads and duct tape-one person with a board with a nail through it could conquer the whole silly bunch. The "fight" scenes are a hoot to watch! The head bad guy is knocked out by a half-inch sapling swatting him across the chest! In general the cast seemed to be having fun romping through this, and the special character makeup is highly professional, but altogether this is unintentionally hilarious and highly entertaining for all the wrong reasons.

Like just about everyone who got this flick, I found it in the Wal-Mart bargain bin, stuck near the bottom with to several copies Howard the Duck. I'm a sucker for a cheap bad movie, so I got it on a whim. I was expecting cheese, I got some really smelly Limburger.Opening with the two low rent Rennisance Festival Fugitive Elves (with lots of shots of their sneakers cleverly disguised in gunny sacks) running through the forest. Ugly Axe Guy is in pursuit, and throws a long handled battle axe into the back of the RFFE carrying a scroll. RFFE number two picks up the scroll and runs once again. Ugly Axe Guy decides to deal with Number Two with his flail, throwing it with the grace and technical skill of a William Shatner fight scene.Shatner naturally comes to mind when I see this movie. When Ugly Axe Guy pulls his axe out of the back of the dead Elf, We see that the highly abused elves in this scene happen to have GREEN BLOOD. So, does that mean we're on Vulcan? Elf Number Two is now crawling, apparently he couldn't get his leg untangled from the flail that is loosely wrapped about his foot. He shambles to a conveniently placed door (in the middle of an otherwise uninhabited forest according to the numerous tracking shots in the opening) quickly, Elf Number Two tosses the scroll through the door as Evil Axe Guy brings his might axe down and mercifully leaves the movie for the next 45 minutes.Then we see the scroll "magically" appearing in a flurry of cheap digital sparkles at the feet of an old gardener who looks sorta like old Obi Wan Kenobi. He picks up the scroll and starts reading, and a young girl's voice-over tells about the ongoing struggle with the UnSeelies in the BlueBell forest and how things look bleak and grim at the moment and how it would be a good time to bring that savior here and all. All the while the scene is cut with pointless closeups of a mouse and a hawk. You expect the hawk is going to swoop down and eat the mouse, and seeing how the mouse starts talking and won't shut up later in the movie, I so desperately wished that was the case. The voice over ends with "Help us, you're our only hope" at which point Sorta Kenobi looks up to the sky and we fade out.Then things quit making sense....Seeing how the past few paragraphs represent the first five minutes of this flick, I can tell you it just goes downhill from this point. From the introduction of the villain Dagda (he looks sorta like Tim Curry as Darkness from "Legend" but acts like Tim Curry as Frankenfurter from "Rocky Horror Picture Show") to the big showdown between good and evil (evil being armed with foam rubber hammers) this movie is nothing but a slow, agonizing, descent into cinematic masochism. If it wasn't for the presence of multiple friends to help riff on this movie, there is no way I could sit through it. After showing this, I've had friends refuse to never again let me pick movies for us to watch. This movie is pain, watch it at your discretion.