The cartoon is completely secondary. It's all blended into Epic 3d and Arthur and the Miniputes, the same world, character design, the same radical division into good fairies and black-and-black villains. Also, a lot was stolen from “Maleficent” – as many as two characters who were disappointed in love, and therefore engaged in war. The furry animal is extremely reminiscent of the squirrel Skrat from the "Ice Age", runs after the elixir, like that for nuts. The plot is predictable, after 6 minutes I realized who will become a couple and who will become a villain. There is at least one extra character, the younger princess. Her “extra love” in the plot does not act out the conflict, but only interferes with the main line, with minor changes it could be removed from the plot, and it would only turn out better. The Swamp Tsar laments that he cannot be loved even with a bewitching potion, although earlier this evening exactly this happened. Heroes had time to love each other out of the blue - I don't believe. And the main blunder - true love is a protection against love spells, but for some reason the love spell initially does not work, and the younger princess worked. At the end of the animals affected by love spells, the authors decided not to heal at all - let fly-eaters and all sorts of rats love each other. In general, a very strange cartoon, made beautifully, the characters have a good communication, gestures, angles, but at the level of the script it is an unprofessional ballad.
Initially, I put the label of excessive repetition of the old story on this cartoon, which is unlikely to be able to capture my attention, but the desire to see what he made for his home on his home millions director, who then relatively recently (2 years before) sold the Star Wars universe for $ 4 billion, made me press the Play button. By the middle, I had forgotten my original motivation.
It always seemed absurd to me when characters suddenly start recording a clip in the middle of a narrative. Songs sloppy like a stupid knife, stale bread cut the narrative and are strongly knocked out of it in the same Disney cartoons that made the ridiculously inscribed full-length clips popular, raising only the question “what is it?” Charms defined the difference between themselves and the father of musical cartoons. The reason is simple: Charms almost do not make full musical numbers at all. It doesn’t have this “clip” in it, no song is sung completely and so they seem to be part of the characters’ lives because they fit well into the narrative. Thanks to a very charismatic performance, the choice of suitable sound and giving first place to the characters rather than the song, the Charms took this moment away.
And, moving from performance to voice acting, it is incredibly chic and charismatic (do not watch this cartoon in Russian dubbing). I haven’t enjoyed the voice actors for a long time, I was amazed at how they created characters with their voices alone. The Russian dubbing would have a right to life if it was tried (and translated the songs, and then the change of languages like a linguistic bipolar goes over her ears and takes the songs out of context). Therefore, it is better, even if you do not know the language at all, to suffer with automatic subtitles of English-films than to listen to indifferent Russian actors to the project. The difference is huge, because through Russian dubbing you will not recognize the characters.
In such a rather unknown project, voice acting is much more lively and charismatic than in Disney cartoons or Sign!. The lively interest of the cast Char is very bribing, one feels the desire to give the character his voice. The actors are so excited about the project that it’s hard to imagine that these voices could belong to anyone other than these characters, even though with Cumming at least I watched the movies in the original. They brought this 3D world to life, their voices made him breathe full and made the characters real. Incredibly beautiful work.
Moving on to the characters and the story, the cartoon is not good at showing the passage of time and only from the second viewing of the newly bloomed primroses (which by natural logic should bloom once a year) I realized that a whole year had passed between the two halves of the story. Elementary change of day and night or seasons, and even withered grass or interruption of the soundtrack, could explain in simple language that at least some time has passed. Apart from this omission, the cartoon has a very dense narrative, which slowly floats from the meeting of Marianne and the Swamp King. Everything that happens on the screen makes sense, it looks very fast and easy.
Marianne (Marianne, just Marina), the look with this bitchy make, first reminded me of Regina from Once Upon A Time, and then seemed to me a copy of Alice from Twilight (compare, the whole color scheme from face to hair one for one), kept on balance, not becoming Mary Sue. It is very wild, moderately sweet and moderately cool. It is live. It looks amazing, Evan Rachel Wood laughed too bad. Marina with her voice is very lively and changes, she is really cool.
The Swamp King in general is a charm that begins to unfold from the middle of the story, a very nice and charismatic character, stealing every second with his presence, thank you Alan Cumming for the chic game. The voice changes from formidable to soft, from hoarse and rude to melodic and beautiful. I think the appearance of this character was the most difficult task for designers and animators, but they found a balance as in the case of the character of Marianne writers. It is scary and pleasant and charming at the same time.
Don, the younger sister of Marina, I want to note, was written into the narrative very correctly, so that she did not irritate, was not a sidekick, but at the same time stayed with the main characters. Her role in the narrative created very funny situations, with her the character of the King began to unfold.
Lucas here clearly collected all his experience of watching cartoons, which he had, for the order of the story is a soup with Beauty and the Beast and Frozen, seasoned with Shrek (repainted some scenes one in one) and decorated with Epic. Borrowing is not always bad if you get something good, and borrowed just becomes an element of a good idea, which everyone noticed, but no one is particularly bugging, the obvious does not want to dig up. I mean, Rowling stole a bunch of Lord of the Rings stuff, but Potterian wasn't really tortured. And it was good. It was clearly not without inspiration, there are interesting transitions from stage to stage, creative solutions in animation (like the one with a circling around a flower). The poster would be made with the same creativity, because it's like a stale berry in the basket. I especially like how the movie focuses on the eyes. The eyes of the characters are very lively, they can see fear, love, anger, and see themselves. The Swamp King is very kind, Don is bright and cute, Roland is cunning, Marianne is dangerous and distrustful. The chemistry between the characters is very lively and justified, they didn’t have much time to show it, but what it costs one of their walks in the Dark Forest.
The visual reminded me a little of Shrek, but with softer lines and less “puppet”. The textures are alive, but not so much that the eye does not understand what is happening. It feels fabulous, especially due to small elements, such as too long ears and fingers of fairies. This animation was surprisingly successful. The movements of the characters are fascinating, in battles they move beautifully, the epic there is interesting. Especially fascinating is the wing animation. The wings of fairies are soft, velvety, the King's wings move interestingly with dry and pleasant rustling, the scales on his shoulders also respond to his mood.
Such a "home" project as Chary could afford in principle to be as impudent as he saw fit, and he brazenly, but with such charm that he managed to fall very deeply into my soul. And apparently it really went to a mass audience, I was surprised to find a lot of art on resources like pinterest. And if people in such numbers devote their creativity to the Charm, it is definitely worth paying attention.
10 out of 10
P.S. The moment in the brawl exactly one hour into the timing was copied from the choreography of the peacock's tail movements from Kung Fu Panda.
I really like full-length cartoons. Both ours and not ours. So it's hard not to please me in this regard. But “Strange Charms” is a rather strange creation.
Firstly, the idea is so old and beaten up that it directly causes bewilderment: love is subject to all. Another hundred millionth time about the fact that neither race, nor wealth, nor appearance are important for love. Nice, nice, but how much can I do?
In general, of course, it can be said that it is useful for children to repeat old truths, etc. But the problem is that the cartoon is not for children. We move on to "second." The characters of the cartoon are not so beautiful, kind or cute-natured. Some of them are monsters. So it's more of a creation for teenagers. Or for adults.
But if for adults and adolescents, then the plot could be made newer and more original. This is a logical inconsistency.
Third, songs. Yeah, obviously it's a musical. But there are too many songs. Besides, they're all on battered melodies, again nothing new. And you have to listen to songs with subtitles, which is also annoying. You don’t look at it, you read it.
Fourth, story. Predict from the very first seconds. Oh, God. Not even a gram of intrigue. It is immediately clear who will be with whom, who is a villain, and who is a simpleton.
So overall, my verdict: not very. Of course, I looked all the way to the end, and the picture was sometimes funny (especially I liked the dwarfs and all kinds of creatures from the dark forest). But I won’t show it to my son, there’s nothing to do. For children, useless gum.
Last year, I stumbled across this unusual cartoon and have watched it 4 or 5 times since. Of course I liked him. And here are 4 highlights of this cartoon, which distinguish it from the general mass and make you reconsider:
1. Drawing. The drawing can be compared with the best studios of our time. Moreover, in my opinion, it is more realistic, qualitative and pleasant to the eye. Here's the hello from Lucas.
2. Unconventional, original story. It would seem, "Beauty and the Beast." But no, everything is quite interesting wrapped up, although it is not to say that this “turn” strained. In particular, I would like to note that this plot is “surrounded”: in the cartoon there are many unusual inserts, a large number of different characters endowed with individuality, beautiful nature.
3. Music. Musical selection for 100 points. Each song is performed in its own place. Although it is a musical, the songs do not seem obtrusive, they do not distract from the plot, but on the contrary complement and become an integral part of it. And the lion’s share of the funny moments of the cartoon just falls on the time when the songs are performed.
4. Growing up. The film, strangely enough, in my opinion, is not designed for small children. It raises really relevant problems of our time, and children are unlikely to understand why... the monster did not turn into a prince, let’s say.
The cartoon is beautiful in its own way, and at the same time, due to the excessive “truth of life”, it is to some extent terrible. After all, sometimes I want to get distracted and just plunge into a fairy tale. And here... This is a story with meaning.
Not bad design Marian and the king of the marshes. The atmosphere of a fairy tale about elves, which, however, goes away in the 15th minute. Good graphics and battle dynamics. Not a bad introduction to "there were two kingdoms..."
Negative aspects:
For starters, it’s worth mentioning the overly hackneyed theme that good old Disney and Shakespeare made the embodiment of clichés. This applies both to the love between Marian and the king, and to the love potion. The film presents us with the concept of love as something so mundane that all the characters do nothing but fall in love: there were more than 5 pairs (Tsar-Marian, Elven Prince-Marian, Sunny-sister Marian, Tsar-sister Marian, King-some swamp lady and a bunch of couples created through a potion). There is a suspicious resemblance to Dom 2 and some Santa Barbara, where the characters no longer see life as another purpose. In truth, the creature poking around in all potion is a huge flaw in the script.
A word about songs. The only beautiful song with meaning and reason is Stronger, the others are not different. Take, for example, the notorious Cold Heart. There are more than enough songs, but they all have meaning. Not to mention Honeybun and I'm Evil.
When I saw the poster, my first thought was, ‘Oh, another fairy stuff.’ I was so wrong. I've been raving about this cartoon for a week, watching it over and over again. The fact is that I do animation myself, and this cartoon became my favorite almost immediately. I want to highlight the main points:
1) It's an amazing graphic. Everything is at such a high level that there is nothing to complain about.
2) Music. I don't like musicals at all, but this cartoon makes me love them. There were a lot of old hits in it. All on the subject.
(3) Philosophy. The cartoon is deep not only in content, but also in execution. The fact is that this is the first 3D cartoon in my life that struck me with the facial expressions of the characters. It is the facial expressions given to 3D characters that are the hardest, but in this masterpiece (I can not call it otherwise) there is so much life, so many shades of different emotions that I have been looking for several days and can not understand how many people worked on it? If not, who are these geniuses? They have to put up a monument in their lifetime. I've never seen a better facial expression than in this cartoon. The philosophy is that love is not falling in love, the fragility of which is symbolized by love powder. Love is common interests and goals, friendship, fusion of souls, and not external data, from which only the first time blows the roof. I've always called falling in love "pink mist" and it's been portrayed as the best. It is the pink fog that everyone today is so desperately looking for, but only true love can dispel it. It is a pink fog that closes your eyes only for a while, but then goes away with the passion that seemed to last forever. And here we have to give Lucas credit. The fog is really pink in his cartoon.
(4) Humor. The humor is amazing. Places to full laughter in the room. I say right away that the Russian voice-over has blown up. The original jokes and songs that complement this voiceover instantly became flat after they were translated into Russian. Well, they couldn't translate the songs, which made the cartoon even more delusional. So imagine if the character was speaking Russian, and all of a sudden, bang, and singing in English. What's with the sluggish chick? The translation of the text failed. Here's the great one. You may be offended, but the truth will not change. If you are learning or already know English, look in the original. Believe me, to look in translation is equivalent to eating borsch without beets and carrots. This is so bad and so bad.
(5) Storyline. Despite the fantasy genre, the cartoon reflects the harshness of our reality like no other. Firstly, because in fairy tales, as they say, “a prince falls in love with a frog and she becomes a princess,” but in reality, as we all know, you often “fall in love with a princess, and later she becomes a frog.” This cartoon shows just such a reality. Namely, a prince on a white horse does not have to be your chosen one, a monster with a disgusting appearance does not always have a disgusting soul. And the main morality of the cartoon is that everyone deserves love, despite appearance, height, social status, and without it we become callous, close, angry and cruel. Someone will say, Here, there was a substitution of concepts. They try to impose external ugliness on us as something beautiful.” Where have you seen truly happy couples in real life be divinely beautiful? "As in a fairy tale" happens very rarely. Usually happy are those who do not bother about appearance. I am deeply convinced that the world is in complete ass today precisely because of the merging of bodies, not the merging of souls. And the cartoon shows exactly the importance of merging souls. A balance between two worlds, where good and evil merge into harmony. A duet of opposites that complement each other, the play of light and darkness, the inner beauty that overshadows all external shortcomings, the yin of feminine and masculine nature. That's what true love is. It is easy to love the beautiful, try to fall in love with a beautiful soul behind an ugly appearance. That's where true love is! After all, we all will one day become old monkeys, but how do the old people who still walk by the hand and love each other. That's where true love is. School, as they say, does not understand. Therefore, I consider the cartoon an underappreciated masterpiece. A golden masterpiece of world animation! And it is not the fault that this cartoon was not understood and appreciated. And it’s not his fault that humanity has completely dulled to understand cartoons of this level. It's not his fault that today's laughter is caused by naked ass on the screen and slag like minions. It's not Lucas' fault that he puts philosophy and deep meaning into his work. Well, not for the modern world they and this level. I personally think this cartoon is a diamond that was thrown in a garbage can and covered with a thick layer of shit, but what can we do? Everything valuable, as Muhammad Ali said, we have to get from the very bowels, be it pearls or gold. I really hope that someday humanity will take up its mind and begin to appreciate cartoons of this scale. Personally, I feel like I’ll review it many more times. For me, this is a bottomless abyss of imagination and knowledge, to which I am very far away. I enjoy every minute of this cartoon and learn something new from it all the time. I wish more people could see it through my eyes. : I recommend it.
We all know George Lucas first of all from the incredibly successful Star Wars franchise that immortalized his name forever. The magnificent space story, based on various philosophical trends and the heritage of the adventure genre of literature, conquered the world, making viewers believe in the dream again. Lucas tried his best to make sure none of us felt cheated. "Star Wars" conducted a sincere dialogue with the audience, constantly striking and surprising her with unexpected discoveries. Such a large-scale project required constant attention from its creator at all stages of the shooting process. At the same time, it was necessary to maintain the myth of the galaxy far, far away outside the studio pavilions, so that “Star Wars” did not lose its influence on modern culture, thereby becoming an object of imitation for filmmakers of future generations. Due to his exhausting interest in the development of the Jedi and Sith universe, as well as working on the formation of innovative technological systems capable of implementing the most daring ideas, George Lucas could not continue a full-fledged career as a director, while participating in the creation of hundreds of films as a consultant on computer graphics and producer. Return to “Star Wars”, which occurred at the turn of the century, marked his farewell to the director’s chair, which he still will not miss, because Lucas is actually a multifaceted personality, not constrained by any framework. After finishing the work on the space Saga, adding to the famous history of the page of the epic Clone Wars and revealing the secrets of the birth of the Rebel Alliance in the game “Power Unbridled”, the filmmaker felt that it was time to transfer the reins of his own company to younger and more ambitious guys. Such a decision resulted in the sale of Lucasfilm studio to Disney Corporation, and Lucas himself received a long-awaited opportunity to engage in extraordinary projects, including the creation of the Museum of Art, as well as the creation of a magical cartoon called “Strange Charms”. As you know, Lucas does not like to prescribe detailed dialogues, but he often comes to truly brilliant ideas, later decorated as stories. Having come up with an attractive story about magical creatures that have lived in the world of Light and Darkness since ancient times, the cinematographer achieved the possibility of film adaptation, giving way to the director Gary Ridstrom, a famous music editing operator, the owner of several fully deserved Oscars. Lucas himself remained on the project as a producer and co-writer of the script, simultaneously conducting a creative review of the entire cartoon. Maybe "Strange Charms" and did not become so epochal as "Star Wars", but they are able to please the audience with excellent graphics, an incomparable soundtrack and effective jokes, which cannot but please.
So, the plot of the cartoon unfolds in the Magic Kingdom of Fairies and the formidable Swamp Kingdom. For a long time, the inhabitants of two completely different worlds lived in constant tension. Having radically different views on life, they were not going to give up their point of view, limiting absolutely all contacts. The delicate balance to avoid a bloody war was based on the complete non-interference of either side in the centuries-old use of the adversaries. The main character of the story is a cheerful fairy princess Marianne (Evan Rachel Wood), preparing to marry Prince Charming Roland (Sam Palladio). The ceremony should take place right at the Spring Ball, the most important holiday of the year. Preparations for such a momentous celebration were in full swing when it suddenly became known that Roland did not really need Marianne as much as the high status of the King, which he would receive after marriage. A disheartened fairy, just recently swirling in the whirlpool of love, refuses to bind himself with the knots of deception, refusing to marry and taking a militant face. However, Roland himself is not going to deviate from the planned, pushing the unfortunate lover dwarf Sunny (Elijah Kelly) to go to the Swamp Kingdom, where you can cook a love potion that allows you to win the heart of any fairy and not only. And it seemed an adventurous plan went according to plan and Sunny was as close as ever to success, but the intimidating Swamp Tsar (Alan Cumming) is not easy to escape! More than anything, he hates the feeling of falling in love, because of which he once received a painful trauma that makes himself felt to this day. The fragile peace between the two worlds is collapsing and all leads to the fact that carnage cannot be avoided. But if we take into account the sincerity and love that can overcome any obstacles and penetrate even the coldest heart, then the outcome of events can be much more rosy than it initially seems! Strange charms are just waiting for them to get out! Do not resist them – they must be accepted!
Gary Ridstrom's film based on the story of George Lucas is not going to play with the viewer in insidious intrigues, because it is created in order to properly entertain us, conquering with incredible ease and all-consuming fabulousness, from which you can not stay away. The introductory part of the story can cause some skepticism, because the creators deliberately delve into the romantic sweetness of the relationship, irritating too obvious idealization of the colorful Fairy Kingdom. But over time, the plot begins to change, captivating more and more. Naive cheerfulness gradually gives way to an ironic mood, island humor sneaks out and will not pass by any character. Charming Princess Marianne, hovering in the clouds of love, turns into a formidable warrior, able to defeat even the most skillful fighter. The transformation of the heroine from an elegant lady to a lively daredevil occurs sharply, but part of the humorous component of the project is built on this. Marianne seems to throw off her shackles, watching the familiar world from an unexpected angle. From now on, it becomes much easier for the viewer to associate himself with her, noting with her all the oddities of the Kingdom that cause a sincere smile.
As it should have prescribed the nature of the light forces, Ridstrom and Lucas worked out in detail the gloomy Swamp Kingdom, without the existence of which it is impossible to imagine the history of “Strange Charms”. In view of the fact that the cartoon is designed for the widest audience, one should not expect from it the piercing darkness. The forces of evil are presented here as a hilarious caricature. There is no danger from them, and at every appearance of the Bolotnaya king himself and his narrow henchmen one wants to smile or laugh at the top of his voice. Interesting was the decision to attribute to different sides distinctive features not only visually, but also musically. If fairies mainly perform their numbers in the style of romantic pop music, the swamp inhabitants do not disdain thundering rock music, which, incidentally, emphasizes the mood of their dark soul.
When watching, I was very pleased with the selection of musical compositions. It is worth noting that most of the soundtrack borrows famous hits, charmingly covered by the star cast. There are no random songs here. Each new musical number is organically woven into the plot, pushing the story in the right direction. The voiceover was attracted only those celebrities who are able to play with a voice no worse than facial expressions, which made “Strange Charms” one of the best animated musicals that have ever been filmed.
9 out of 10
I gave you a lot of witch weed.
Wherever you are running,
Whatever you're doing there.
You'll be mine anyway!
Every month, even every week, the movie industry needs a freshly baked product. And not just a unit of the genre, but something that can at least bring a small profit. Already in these two needs, and there is another, programmed a problem in which more than a dozen recent years forced to flounder the viewer. There is no time to invent something new, no right to take risks on an untrodden path. Hence the countless sequels, the same cautious moves of films, sometimes awkwardly impersonated as parody elements. Stagnation, drying up every living moment by the inexorability of the Sahara Desert.
One example of the above in the animation is Gary Ridstrom's work (an Oscar nominee for "The Kidnapping") "Strange Charms." A girl cartoon is emphasized, where barbie passions are served through a mini-Putin prism. The Kingdom of Fae and Mordor (the Dark Forest). In one balls and awe of wings, in the other - flyomors and bueraki. And the love of variations. Air girl dreams Marianne, which is beautiful, smart, brave finds a candidate for grooms and princes on hot. Her frivolous sister Donna, suffering from the Messalina complex, rushes with arms to each of the first. And nearby, the Swamp King is allergic to the word "love." The knot will tie, and by the end of the film will untie. The main characters, including the narcissistic blond knight Roland, will find a mate. Peace, friendship, love bubbles.
By the way, I almost forgot. "Strange Charms" is a musical. Where not just on duty inserts-clips with elephants flying into the sky and dancing violets. A machine gun clip of beautifully crafted musical numbers of different years. Moths flutter - pop molasses pour, dark neighbors attack - heavy rock bass guitars come into play. Even the loss of the remake of The Doors “People are strange” Filippokirkorovskaya “Mouse” flashed.
Ruined by Soviet animation and the upbringing of the younger generation, in each cartoon for some reason I look for morality, a message, the main thesis. The characters of “Strange Charms” threw all their forces to get a love potion, exchanging the minuses of the environment for sparkling confetti pluses. In fact, it was possible to do with a natural feeling, but thanks to the magic of a captive fairy, life becomes more fun. That is, he swallowed (sniffed, licked, smoked) and into the realm of infinite joy, although, probably, the authors tried to say not quite this, but the eternal “Love is stronger than any charm.” However, hand on heart, sympathize with the fainting of the poor king, who saw what companions of life chose his beloved daughters, and what offspring Morgan expected. Do not see idylls, it is better to dope potion on an empty stomach.
The cartoon was diligently created according to ready-made, tested by the dollar, patterns. Songs that I am sure were legally enforced are well-known and beloved. The characters are run in the cinema both externally (Arthur’s epic by Luc Besson), and internally. Love is good, you'll love a beaver. “Strange charms” can not be called a weak, underdrawn, underpressed tape. “Strange Charms” can not be called a landmark, original film for centuries. Released in early 2015, the animated film by December of the month was firmly forgotten. But no special bets were made on him. Filled in an ordinary fishless weekend, and goodies.
Lord, will I never get tired of reviewing this masterpiece? No matter how many times I watch it, no matter how many times I remember, quote and listen to songs from it, and still watch it with delight and smile over and over again! The feeling that it is simply impossible to get tired of him, he conquers absolutely everyone!
Well, maybe the first half of the film someone will have to endure (some it may seem boring), but the second will hit you hard!
First of all, it is worth noting the stunning graphics on the verge of reality and fantasy.
This is the case when the characters and their world are so realistic that every crack, every scale and blade of grass is spelled out, when every movement is indistinguishable from the real one. But with all this, the creators were able to throw away something elusively superfluous, so that they, no matter what, remained for us fabulously beautiful.
It is not possible to separate all the characters.
They turned out to be so expressive and real, each in his character, behavior and actions, that it was as if they were written from the life (not from words), really existing people. They are all different, but they are all alive.
Even the character itself - it is not just set, it opens up, changes and matures with the development of the plot. Heroes are changing from the inside before our eyes. I can't even put it into words.
Oh, and what are all these characters facial expressions!
It's just something impossible! For the first time in my life, I've seen this. Conquer not even the abundance of facial expressions of the heroes and their plausibility, but the fact that none of them it does not freeze for a second. Even if there is one hero in the center of the frame, the rest still continue to live: they breathe, blink, change their facial expression.
Next up is the music.
People who are not used to the old Disney school, can scare away the abundance of songs, because this picture in the genre of the musical. However! It's just the beginning. All the songs are good and designed in a modern manner. Therefore, once you watch it, you will realize that you want to listen to all the tracks, giving them a separate, honorary folder on your player. After all, all these songs, after watching, will play for you with new colors, becoming a part of your favorite heroes!
I also want to mention the voices chosen for dubbing.
I just wanted to cry because we rarely sing. The voices are great! I am just ready to idolize Stanislav Kontsevich, who gave his voice to the Bolotn Tsar - acting out, diction, intonation, sound - everything is flawless! This also applies to the other characters.
Let me say a few words about humor.
The creators did their best here. They found the very middle ground when the viewer is funny and fun, but the cartoon does not turn into a primitive comedy with flat “jokes” (like many current ones).
On the contrary, humor, if not elegant, is very pleasant, because nowhere does it cross the black adequacy and moderation.
Now for the story itself.
Here, it would seem, is taken as the basis of the old-good and eternal: love, magic, the confrontation of two “lying nearby, but infinitely distant” kingdoms. But what do we see in the end? And in the end, we see a completely fresh, modern, life-affirming and strong picture, in which the authors managed to breathe new life. At the same time, without sacrificing anything, without vulgarizing and destroying the element of the fairy tale.
And, in my opinion, very fresh and pleasant (against the background of other cartoons with a similar theme) – ordinary people are not involved, the magical world remained magical.
Plus, it is worth emphasizing that, contrary to the genre of Romantic, the story came out not assiduously contrived, but to the right extent warm and filled with real, human feelings.
And by the way...
I very rarely like female characters, but here they were all good and came to a place.
For all these qualities, I just can’t bring myself to call this picture “cartoon”, and even more so “cartoon” – it sounds insulting. This piece is too lively for that.
There were too few things in my memory that impressed me as much as this combination of thoughtful simplicity and beauty. He just wants to look at quotes and screenshots to them.
I’ve watched this movie more than eight times (and I’ll watch it again and again). I never read anything more than three or four times.
10 out of 10
I have to admit, I decided to see this picture solely because of George Lucas. Well, how not to look at the brainchild of this skilled master? First of all, it is necessary to warn everyone who intends to get acquainted with this creation - this is a musical. Absolutely irrevocable and uncompromising - musical, friends. Therefore, if you are not a fan of songs that will, by the way, literally every 10 minutes, it is better not to watch.
However! This is not a simple musical, in my opinion. I remember the animated films of the Ariel Mermaid era, when beautiful heroes with their own “drawn lips” sang songs with lyrics exceptionally suitable for a particular moment. I remember the Shrek era, when it was no longer songs, but rather soundtracks in the background. This movie has a funny mix! Funny! And it's not just that cute heroes sing themselves, no! The point is (perhaps just for me...?) that the songs being sung are from the repertoire of recent decades. Each song is selected so that it falls on the moment as poured.
And here each character has its own: if it is a beautiful and gentle fairy, in love with her hero, she receives a performance of the song Rachel Wood - "Can't help falling in love." If an innocent creature is heartbroken, the song "I'll never fall in love again" is used. And from the dark dungeons of the Kingdom will be heard only classic rock!
And, of course, I just have to mention not a template plot. Well, tell me how many cartoons a beautiful girl stays with... Ah! Well, yeah. Spoilers.
From the first minutes of the story, I wanted to puke with the abundance of songs (although this is a musical). The characters were extremely annoying both in design (especially short elves, yes, in the original they are elves, not dwarves!) and in behavior. The main character, Marianne, was thrown from side to side, the mood and motivations changed very quickly and completely unbelievably. I am already silent about the fact that at first this fairy looks typical of Mary Sue: and the most beautiful, and the princess, and aggressive, and the teeth of the offender can give. But this is rather an omission of the creators because... It was only from outside sources that I learned that more than a year had passed between the failed wedding and the spring ball. It is clear that in a year and character can change and the sword can be learned in principle. In the movie, it looks like a day has not passed. Very strange.
But it is necessary to endure the first half, as the second begins to deliver very much. And not without the help of a character called Bog King (dubbed: Swamp King). Nice guy. Immediately fascinates with his charisma and voice, for which it is worth saying thank you to actor Alan Cumming. (That's why villains always do better than positive characters.) It is very animated: each scale moves when he is angry, the wings then hang a cloak, then give tap during the flight. According to the idea of the Swamp King, the creature is disgusting and should cause disgust, like the main bastard. But certainly not in this case: the creators surprisingly found a middle ground: he is quite scary and at the same time in some sense eerily attractive and absorbs all your attention every second of his “etheric time”.
Separately, I want to talk about the visual component. Textures are solid, and almost all the characters in this film. The picture looks just charming and realistic. It seems that the action takes place in the real and living magical world. It's a stone in the Frozen garden. Because, unlike the worked-out acting characters of that cartoon, the creators completely scored on the background. And that no scene, it was visible window 3D Max in which the characters were present in a box called “background”, trying to pretend that they are in the real world.
Two words about dubbing: it's disgusting. Like everywhere. Although the creators felt sorry for the audience and did not voice at least the songs, leaving them in the original, I still highly recommend, I REALLY recommend watching the cartoon in the original voiceover, at least for the second time. Impressions change dramatically and in a positive way.
And finally, some spoilers. It's about love. Because such a sudden and original love line I have not seen since the first Shrek.
The only difference is that in Shrek, Princess Fiona turned big and green in the end, and she and Shrek matched each other perfectly visually. And here the characters remained as they were, without miraculous transformations. And the Elven Knight Roland is exactly like Prince Charming, obsessed with his own beauty.
Against the background of the Swamp King, even Marianne ceases to irritate. Recently, I have not been touched by canon couples in cartoons. Whether it’s The Princess and the Frog, Hotel Transylvania, Rapunzel, Frozen and many others. No, that's all. And tuout. I don't know why, but I really liked their love story. One scene of a swordfight is worth it: I have not seen such chemistry between cartoon characters since Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast and other Disney cartoons of the 80s-90s. After this, even without knowing the finale, I already want Boggy and Marianne to become a couple.
The truth against their background is the sudden love of her sister Dawn (dubbed: Donna... and this is a separate horror). Why can’t she even be called Zarya? and the elf Sunny looks, to put it mildly, very implausible. Feechka throughout the first half of the cartoon did not pay any attention to his friend, then the remaining half was under the influence of a love potion. And it wasn't until the end that one hug suddenly made you realize you loved him? Well, that's pure nonsense. Perhaps this is the only disadvantage of this picture, which, in principle, you can close your eyes because of the abundance of pluses.
Bottom line: The movie is definitely worth watching. Even the abundance of songs ceases to annoy after the first viewing. I don't understand why we didn't rent it. To some extent, this tape is almost a masterpiece, but due to distributors who spared money for its purchase, the cartoon will go unnoticed for most viewers and this is extremely sad. It is sad that guano like Minions is shown in the most remote cinemas, and such wonderful and beautiful cartoons are left without proper attention.
It turned out that this animated film I was able to watch only the second time. Why? Because I never thought I'd come across a real musical.
I think I'll start with the unpleasant. You need to understand that (especially the first half hour) before you will appear a set of songs performed by the characters of the cartoon. “What is unusual here!” the reader will think. In almost every modern work of Disney and others there is a fair share of song inserts. Of course it is. Only they do not follow each other, turning the plot into a set of loosely related clips. However, in a bizarre way, the second half is largely healed from its obsessive lack. Songs and dances do not disappear, and yet they become noticeably less. And, quite unexpectedly, self-irony appears, expressed through the dialogues of the Swamp King: “Well, at least this one does not sing...”, “Let someone shut her up already,” and so on.
If you try to distance yourself from the musical component, you get a rather funny variation of the melodrama (a loud characteristic for digital content with the label “6+”), in which opposites collide. All plot twists are more than predictable, but the spectacle does not become less pleasant.
Strange charms - a bright juicy picture, against the background of which a familiar story only plays out with other heroes and familiar lyrics of songs embedded in the mouths of fairies, gnomes, goblins, mushrooms and other amazing creatures of the Fairy Kingdom.
7 out of 10
A cartoon that fascinates from the first minutes of viewing and with the first song heard! But everything in order...
Plot. On the one hand, when you are just starting to watch a cartoon, you may get the impression that before you another banal love story. But only at the beginning... So there are two countries before us: one is bright and beautiful, inhabited by dwarves, beautiful elves and fairies; the other, dark and gloomy, is home to the less beautiful inhabitants of a magical land, but no less interesting. On the border of the two worlds grow special flowers, from the petals of which you can create a love potion. The swamp king who lives in the thicket of a dark forest, these same flowers do not like, and the inhabitants of the fairy kingdom they are simply unnecessary, as well as the potion itself. However, love and thirst for power makes the heroes go to desperate acts and get the notorious potion.
The whole story is vaguely reminiscent of William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is easy to guess that the plans of the cartoon characters, as well as the classic comedy, are not going as planned at all, but at the same time we reveal other aspects of the essence of each of the characters.
It is worth noting that the cartoon teaches us and children to look not only at the cover, but also at the content, which many of us have recently begun to forget. Everyone wants to love and be loved.
In addition to bright and multifaceted characters, the cartoon contains humor, dynamics in almost every frame and, of course, music. Music is not the last place here. After all, it's a musical! Personally, I was pleased to learn that no song was translated and voiced by our craftsmen. Here you listen to the original songs! In my opinion, this is the biggest plus of this cartoon! For those who do not know the "scenes" of a particular song, the translators took care of the subtitles.
The songs, by the way, are not new and are familiar to many. Soundtracks are selected so successfully that sometimes there is no need to translate the song, because you just have to look at what is happening on the screen and understanding comes by itself.
For me, “Strange Charms” was included in the selection of works that charge positive for the whole day! If you have not seen this wonderful and bright cartoon, do not waste time! He's worth it!
Charming cartoon with competent timing, really funny jokes, familiar songs and live heroes. It consists of numerous trifles that can be reviewed over and over again simply in fragments, going over like faceted ornamental stones. Have you ever seen a light translucent laboratory with iridescent irritation? The cartoon reminds me a lot of it: it’s not the scale of How to Train Your Dragon, it’s not the budget of Megabrain, and it certainly won’t be a classic like The Lion King. But this picture did with no less love, attention to children and, most importantly, a wonderful mood. Faces, looks, gestures - if you want to fall under these strange spells, please pay attention to all this.
The plot is not new at all - we spent all our childhood on fairy tales about princesses, and unexpected plot twists will trump the same Shrek. But each hero is really worked out - a loving princess, a beautiful knight, a harsh lord of the Dark Forest and even an older princess developing in character. The development of the characters for me in general is a very valuable moment, even though it will not be as epic as in Game of Thrones. And in the best traditions of Disney, the picture is filled with all sorts of funny and cute supporting characters that support the atmosphere.
Perhaps, this cartoon is primarily kind, the genre of the musical helped him to competently avoid violence. He teaches simple things, but with an untidy style. If you still treat with humor and curiosity to cartoons and are ready to make discounts for the sake of your own good mood - I highly recommend watching.
A wonderful cartoon, undeservedly overlooked by many distributors. Probably they were scared by such a not very common genre as an animated musical. But even those who do not like the abundance of songs in films, you should give a chance to the picture - you may be pleasantly surprised.
In my opinion, “Strange Charms” is in all respects a quality product: a good script, graphics, songs and humor.
Two magical worlds open before us - the kingdom of fairies, full of light blooming glades, where fairies and dwarves live (in the original, actually elves, only small ones) and a dark mysterious forest where goblins and other swamp creatures live. These two worlds experience mutual hostility and do not intersect with each other until one unfortunate dwarf decides to get a love potion in the dark forest - this is where the adventure begins.
The cartoon looks easy and in one breath (unless you do not like songs at all) and this, including the merit of a good script - there is no feeling of a "patchwork blanket", understatement or any omissions, there are no too long scenes, all the action is sustained in good dynamics, however, Hollywood directors in this master.
The graphics are beautiful, there is no sense to paint especially - its quality can be judged from the trailer. I also liked the concept of drawing characters - it seems to be a classic performance, but they brought something original.
Of course there is humor. What I want to note is that humor is not intrusive, it manifests itself in the actions of the characters and in the prevailing funny situations, but it pleases throughout the cartoon.
Songs – there are many of them, as befits the genre. But! First of all, the already proven hits are taken, so listening and watching is not boring. In addition, the songs are selected for the plot. Moreover, the action does not freeze in order for the hero to sing, but continues during the performance, and even in themselves these scenes are beautifully decorated, so that they are part of the plot and look like an animation clip.
The film itself leaves behind a great mood. And although the main plot bases such as “magic potion” and “do not judge anyone by appearance” were used more than once in cinema, the authors nevertheless managed to present this topic in their own original way.
In general, it turned out to be a bright, funny fairy tale that is worth watching.
Evaluation:
A beautiful and funny story about two worlds. A world where beauty is valued and a world where evil reigns.
On the border of the two worlds, flowers grow, from the petals of which you can make the elixir of love. But they don't. Both worlds don't need him. In a world where beauty is valued, a more beautiful creature seems to be loved. And in the world of evil, love is generally forbidden and a fairy is imprisoned.
Each of these worlds has its flaws, and the truth is somewhere in the middle. First, we feel sympathy for the world where beauty reigns. It's our glamorous world where we're used to living. But starting in the middle of the picture, when the elixir of love is triggered, everything interesting, funny and funny begins. All our ideas are starting to change.
The picture tries to teach us to look not at external attractiveness or ugliness, but into the inner world of fabulous creatures.
Of the shortcomings, the songs are not translated - they sound in the original. True, this is a classic and there are subtitles and adults know them, but it can be difficult for children to read. For that reason, I would recommend it to those children who can already read quickly.
Evaluation: