Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/464509
16 UCW FEBRUARY 18-24, 2015 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Once upon a time, about fif- teen years ago, George Lucas sat upon a throne of money, smok- ing cigars lit with hundred- dollar bills. He gestured to his minions for an update on his pet project — the reanimation of John Lennon, followed by the reunification of The Beatles, who would then sing the soundtrack to his new animated film. After learning that res- urrection was an unreasonable goal, he laughed maniacally, had the poor guys beheaded, and then got back to work shoving Jar-Jar Binks down the throat of an entire generation. In 2015, Strange Magic (99 minutes) was released. While the ending was enjoyable, a gargle made of hydrochloric acid and stinky cheese wouldn't be strong enough to get the taste of the first ninety minutes of this film out of my mouth. Insipid, uninspired, sort-of-kind-of vaguely racist in a way I can't quite describe, this manic pixie dream girl of a movie never quite comes together. It's a middle-aged man's version of girl power, in which feminism devolves into simply getting to choose an unexpected kind of boyfriend. I have to wonder — has George Lucas simply gone mad with power? How else to explain the confusing mix of poor karaoke choices, shoddy storytelling and the script from Epic? The story begins with the Princess Marianne (Evan Rachel Wood) singing "Can't Help Falling in Love." She spots her boyfriend Roland (Sam Palladio) getting some strange from another fairy and decides to turn Goth, as teenagers with broken hearts so often do. Sometime later, she has become an embittered, angry, loveless old maid, while her sister Dawn (Meredith Anne Bull) remains carefree and boy crazy. Sunny the elf (Elijah Kelley), who has a crush on Dawn, is hover- ing in the friend zone and helping her sort out all her potential dates when a lizard attacks. This is important only because it results in Sunny obtain- ing a primrose petal, a necessary ingredient for love potions. After some more pop songs, both generic and obnoxious, Roland and Sunny team up to get a love potion from the Sugarplum Fairy (Kristen Chenoweth). After completely failing to consider the morality of compelling someone to love you with magic, Sunny marches into the Dark Forest and heads for the Sugarplum Fairy's prison. Yep, she's imprisoned by the Bog King (Alan Cummings) for no legitimate reason. You would think her King would make some token diplomatic effort for her release, but he's apparently too busy maintaining an inappropriately watchful eye on his daughter's love life. It's not even that hard to get to the prison — Sunny manages it with very little trouble. Anyway, he gets the love potion, and naturally, hijinks ensue. The film gets a little more interesting towards the end, but the whole experience is best avoided. The animation's pretty, I guess. As a final thought, I must mention the question- able ethics of using love potions on people. For the love of reason, why are most of the male charac- ters trying to use love potions, apparently a fan- tasy equivalent to rohypnol, to seduce the female characters? And why is this never addressed at any point in the movie? Now playing at Wynnsong 7, Market Fair 15, Carmike 12 and Patriot 14. You Got Electric Light Orchestra in My Shakespeare Strange Magic (Rated PG) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. The only thing missing is You! Whether you are a golfer, swimmer, tennis player, or enjoy dining. Gates Four Golf and Country Club has a membership for you and your family. For more information call 910.425.6667 or visit us at www.gatesfour.com