Review of Wizards (1977) by Micheal C — 15 Oct 2011

Cult classic is a word that pretty much defines Ralph Bakshi's entire filmography. The director has tackled Lord of the Rings and Heavy Metal, but some of his most beloved films are his less known, bawdier pictures, such as Fritz the Cat and Heavy Traffic. I won't pretend I know a lot about the man, except for his heavy usage of the rotoscoping animation technique or the fact he's worked on Spider-Man animation in his early days. No, I'm not particularly knowledgeable about him or his work, and Wizards is one of my first forays into his filmography. I definitely enjoyed it, though. It's hardly perfect, and in some ways it's age really shows. However, considering the fact that the studio didn't believe in the movie, similarly to another movie that was being made at the same time (Star Wars), coupled with the fact that Bakshi only had around thirty animators at his disposal, and had a story that went far beyond his budget, I'd say he did a pretty good job.

Sometime in the future, the earth is completely destroyed by nuclear power and terrorism. Radiation blots out the sun, and over the course of a couple million years, humanity slowly begins to die off. Slowly, the clouds begin to dissipate, and what is left is a mankind that has become deformed and mutated by radiation, into faeries, elves, wizards, monsters, etc. A faerie queen gives birth to two wizard children, Avatar, the good wizard, and Blackwolf, the evil wizard. When their mother dies, Blackwolf plots to take over the kingdom, but Avatar defeats him. Yet Blackwolf's power still exists, ready to take over the world or destroy it, and it's up to Avatar to stop him. Thousands of years later, Avatar and Blackwolf have grown old, and Blackwolf has had time to rally monsters under his rule of the most lethal radioactive lands. With their aid, he unearths technology millions of years old. Technology from the 20th century. He amasses knowledge needed to defeat Avatar: the knowledge to fight against magic with industrial technology under the sign of the swastika. Using a projector and Nazi propoganda as a tool to rally the monsters and give them strength to massacre every magic user on the planet, Blackwolf readies himself to take the world back to the age that destroyed it. With the help of the busty and voluptuous Eleanor, the strong and skilled elven warrior Weehawk, and the robotic assassin Peace, Avatar sets out on a quest to defeat his brother once and for all, before the world ends for good.

If this plot sounds like pure gold, that's because it is. The animation on Wizards might be low budget and at times amateur and rushed, but the writing is top notch. The characters and world they inhabit are well fleshed out. Each character has strong motivations and personality traits and the environment they inhabit is beautiful, frightening, dangerous, deadly, and also a place worth fighting for. There are some very memorable moments in this movie, some absolutely classic. There are also a few twists you won't expect. Avatar is an extremely fun character, with a lot of spark and a laid back charm. Eleanor is sexy, but she has a sly wit about her, even if she is sometimes a bit incompetent as well. Weehawk is a great example of using one character to get to know an entire race of mythical beings and their ways, as his people live in a tribal fashion. He lives by a warriors code and by customs. Peace is also an interesting character, as we basically see him hunting people down and killing them when he is introduced. This makes his alliance with the heroes all the more suspenseful and poignant.

The animation on this movie shows in every single way a mindset for finding the cheapest and easiest solutions possible to tell the story at hand. Sometimes the film will switch to still images to tell the story, and all of them are stylish and well drawn. Backgrounds are gorgeously inked, but not heavy on detail. Some are even unfinished. The characters manage to retain a life in their movements, and their personalities shine through the animation, but it does make frequent use of reused animation and a low amount of frames. The greatest, most memorable scene in the movie, which you'll know when you see it, is completely due to budget constraints. Rotoscoping was used for the more advanced battle scenes to make things easier. It's an incredible feat of talent that these animators were able to tell this feature length story with all of these restraints, and that's to be applauded. There is blood, and you can visibly see female nipples, which is a bit strange for a children's movie, but not for a Ralph Bakshi movie. I'm impressed by these things. It always impresses me to see what animators can get away with. The music is all right. It does fit the tone of the movie, but it's not my personal cup of tea.

Overall, I highly recommend this cult animated film. The characters are lifelike and full of personality, the story is great, believable, and well written, and it's an impressive feat, even if the low budget animation is not for everyone. It could be an eyesore to some. I loved it, though, so I can't recommend this one highly enough.