Review of The Wizard (1989) by Brian H — 20 Dec 2007

This movie gets three stars for the nostalgia factor. Seeing it again many years later, I can see that it is not a very good movie. It takes a long time to figure out what the plot is (I saw it so much as a kid, I didn't really have that problem) and when the story is finally revealed, it is forced and soon becomes evident that the whole thing is a big commercial for Nintendo.

This was the most awesome commercial ever when I was 11, but now besides a few gasps of old memories of playing specific video games, the movie is more or less boring and slow paced. And Fred Savage is not a great actor, but he's so cute and precocious that nobody cared.

There is a little bit of sweetness at the ending that brings things together, but there's not much weight or believable drama to really let the emotional part pay off. But then again, this is just a silly video game adventure.

And for a kid of the 80's, what more could you ask for?