WizardsThe Earth is a resilient one, contrary to humanity's most unfortunate efforts to destroy it and ourselves with war and the poisonous after effects--the Earth goes on and survives. Wizards offers a preface to its tale of fantasy and magic, that millions of years before, the world--our world--had undergone a presumably nuclear holocaust, where the uncontrolled wrath of technology had nearly resulted in the annihilation of the human race. Nearly may be only somewhat accurate, as what was left would be forever transformed. According to the mythology of the movie, we will revert to our more inherent nature, that of elves, fairies, as well as mutants and the like.
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Wizards is a rare bird, a kind of composite mix of a children's cartoon, and something decidedly not, a movie juxtaposing both psychedelic horror and innocent whimsy, between colorful fairies and giant six-foot long mice, to scummy badlands riddled with prostitutes and Nazi propaganda. Although Wizards boasts a PG rating, the content is best suited for older audiences who can contextualize the tonally erratic subject matter; the film dances wildly between jovial mirth and graphic depictions of war. Wizards is a story about war--not just the one taking place in the movie, but about the overall futility of war and how it is so destructive to the world as well as ourselves. It seems that this conflict will always be eternal, represented by the hero and antagonist of the film, Avatar (Bob Holt) and Blackwolf (Steve Gravers) respectively, who were birthed under auspicious circumstances--two fraternal twins, one of light and one of dark. Avatar and Blackwolf's feud has lasted thousands of years--apparently wizards live for a very long time in the future--and they have kept each other in check for ages. But when some of Avatar's elven spies--led by the brave Weehawk (Richard Romanus)--discover that not only has Blackwolf been unearthing artifacts from before the holocaust, but has also dispatched an assassin, Necron 99 (David Proval)--later renamed "Peace"--Avatar is called into action, if reluctantly, to stop Blackwolf's horrible ambition and destroy his secret weapon of war. Accompanied by Elinore (Jesse Welles), the scantily-clad queen of the kingdom of Montagar, they begin their quest into the heart of darkness, all while Blackwolf's armies continue to swarm forth from their radiation-plagued kingdom of Scortch. Blackwolf's secret weapon is a kind of shock-inducing display from a projector of footage from World War II, loaded with content about Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, which bolsters his mutant army when shown to them, and dazes and confuses his enemies, leaving them stunned and easy prey for his demon-led hordes. But the real weapon here is the propagation of hate and hysteria--fear--and Blackwolf says so directly. Although these most terrible of forces behind warfare seemed to have eluded Blackwolf for eons, he has finally understood that to break an enemy requires crushing their soul as well as their body. The imagery and motifs he appropriates for his despicable army are metaphoric, both an obvious condemnation of the villainous Third Reich, but also those who would manipulate their armies to warfare on highly questionable grounds by fostering hate. Blackwolf is unequivocally evil, that is apparent, but his mutant masses under his dictatorship are frankly naive idiots; but when he puts a gun in their hands and points their trigger for them, they make for an unquestioning, unthinking killing force.
One of the most distinctive qualities of Wizards is its unique style of animation, popularized and frequented by filmmaker Ralph Bakshi, that of "rotoscoping" for select portions of battle scenes, which gives the movie a surreal quality, something not quite animated but not quite naturally filmed. Combining this signature aesthetic with the post-apocalyptic future fantasy vibe makes Wizards a dreamlike trip. Although the story goes that much of this style originated out of necessity, it gives Wizards a quality other films like it lack--if it could really be said there are other films like it. The musical score is decidedly from the seventies--as is the fashion sense, too--further accentuated by the trippy backdrops and lurid colors. Aside from projected imagery from World War II within the film, Wizards is also something of a pantomime of that war, too, as Blackwolf adopts the expansionist practices of Nazi Germany, while the elves--who had up until the advent of his secret weapon--simply assumed they would continue to repel his forces in the trenches--just as other nations in Europe underestimated Hitler's capacity for explosive outgrowth and did little to foil his dark efforts until he was practically on their doorsteps. Wizards occasionally plays at black comedy, frequently through the gasmask-wearing goons in Blackwolf's army, with one example when they invade a "church", where relics of millions of years prior are housed--including a large Coca-Cola sign and the CBS logo--where they try to unload some prisoners on the priests. The priests spend hours engaging in ridiculous rituals, frustrating the goons who get bored and shoot the prisoners and blow up the church. Avatar is a strange kind of "messiah", a cigar smoking gruff old guy, who wears his wizard's cone over his eyes, and does more with his magic to sprout out flowers than shoot lightning bolts. Although the people of the kingdoms battling Blackwolf are clearly tired of getting kicked around--having only "love" to aid them in their resistance--Avatar believes (or at least pretends to believe) that love is the way to real peace, a dream he wants to share, to believe, rather than fall under the sway of the evil forces which have ruined his brother from birth: fear.
Recommended for: Fans of a wild and decidedly different animated feature, with trippy visuals and strange characters. Wizards has a strong anti-war message, and the film is occasionally childish and occasionally haunting, but an entertaining cult hit.
One of the most distinctive qualities of Wizards is its unique style of animation, popularized and frequented by filmmaker Ralph Bakshi, that of "rotoscoping" for select portions of battle scenes, which gives the movie a surreal quality, something not quite animated but not quite naturally filmed. Combining this signature aesthetic with the post-apocalyptic future fantasy vibe makes Wizards a dreamlike trip. Although the story goes that much of this style originated out of necessity, it gives Wizards a quality other films like it lack--if it could really be said there are other films like it. The musical score is decidedly from the seventies--as is the fashion sense, too--further accentuated by the trippy backdrops and lurid colors. Aside from projected imagery from World War II within the film, Wizards is also something of a pantomime of that war, too, as Blackwolf adopts the expansionist practices of Nazi Germany, while the elves--who had up until the advent of his secret weapon--simply assumed they would continue to repel his forces in the trenches--just as other nations in Europe underestimated Hitler's capacity for explosive outgrowth and did little to foil his dark efforts until he was practically on their doorsteps. Wizards occasionally plays at black comedy, frequently through the gasmask-wearing goons in Blackwolf's army, with one example when they invade a "church", where relics of millions of years prior are housed--including a large Coca-Cola sign and the CBS logo--where they try to unload some prisoners on the priests. The priests spend hours engaging in ridiculous rituals, frustrating the goons who get bored and shoot the prisoners and blow up the church. Avatar is a strange kind of "messiah", a cigar smoking gruff old guy, who wears his wizard's cone over his eyes, and does more with his magic to sprout out flowers than shoot lightning bolts. Although the people of the kingdoms battling Blackwolf are clearly tired of getting kicked around--having only "love" to aid them in their resistance--Avatar believes (or at least pretends to believe) that love is the way to real peace, a dream he wants to share, to believe, rather than fall under the sway of the evil forces which have ruined his brother from birth: fear.
Recommended for: Fans of a wild and decidedly different animated feature, with trippy visuals and strange characters. Wizards has a strong anti-war message, and the film is occasionally childish and occasionally haunting, but an entertaining cult hit.