"The Magician's Elephant" Review: An Elephant-Sized Misfire for Netflix

[boingboing]

Originally published at: "The Magician's Elephant" Review: An Elephant-Sized Misfire for Netflix | Boing Boing

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[GagHalfrunt]

@boingboing

a grizzly war veteran by the name of Vilna (Mandy Patinkin, in a distinctly thick and completely unjustified Russian dialect)

Vilna is the old Russian name for Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, so giving a character called Vilna a Russian accent is not going to offend anyone at all, especially not right now. /s

Vilnius | Etymology and other names

[percysowner]

Eh, I liked it. I watched last night to get a sense if my 5 year old grand-kid would like it. It’s a kids movie and it’s not Paw Patrol, so for me that’s a win.

[allenk]

Here’s a kids’ movie on Netflix with 97% on RT (and I liked it too!).

The Mitchells vs. the Machines

[Torlygid]

Agreed, that was a great movie, but it might be too much for a five year old. When they’re a bit older, though, it’s a great watch.

[jmcgarry]

I liked it too. Kept my youngest entertained and yeah, it’s not Paw Patrol or it’s I’ll. I also didn’t see any thing too obvious to merchandise so that’s also a win.

[bcsizemo]

@Torlygid

Agreed, that was a great movie, but it might be too much for a five year old.

I guess it depends on the child. Our then 4 and 8 year old both enjoyed it on movie night. It was one of the few movies where half way through he didn’t turn to me and say, “Dad can I go poop now?”… For context we eat dinner while watching the movie. Normally potty time is after dinner time. He is also a big fan of the Minion movies, but those aren’t Netflix created.

[Flossaluzitarin]

That was more fun than watching Gene Siskel put in a dental dam and a half kilo of lube and just gum the book to smithereens -or- Anne of Power Washing Moss-Decrepit Gables.

[Jorpho]

@boingboing

The longer the film harps on such platitudes of beating the odds, the more it feels mired in mediocrity. Because magic is impossible and so is the revivification of dead relatives. If the message is that believing is enough to get you to accomplish a task like finding a map, then most of it feels like sloppy writing and not genuine uplift.

Makes me think of Chomet’s “The Illusionist”, which concludes with a properly nasty message about how magic does not exist and is not uplifting in the slightest.

The Illusionist (2010 film)

[Brainspore]

@boingboing

Beginning with a torrent of exposition, we are told that Peter (Noah Jupe), is an orphan being raised by a grizzly war veteran by the name of Vilna (Mandy Patinkin, in a distinctly thick and completely unjustified Russian dialect). The two live in the fictional country of Baltese

Now, when you say “grizzly war veteran” do you mean a war veteran who is herself a gray-haired toughie or do you mean a veteran of the Grizzly War? Because that second option actually sounds kind of exciting.

[teknocholer]

@Brainspore

Because that second option actually sounds kind of exciting.

The illustration doesn’t really reflect the situation on the ground, though.