Sorry, this movie sucks

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

A brazen, anything goes, children's fantasy film from Russia. This somewhat slapdash effort feels a lot like a British Children's Film Foundation effort, albeit made with a distinctly Russian feel, hence the way characters break into traditional folk songs on occasion and the odd mix of old and new. The mildly annoying child protagonist discovers an ability to use magic, but an evil wizard has designs on him. A life size robot in the shape of a monkey shows up to help out at times too.