STRANGE MAGIC
DIRECTOR: Gary Rydstrom
VOICE CAST: Evan Rachel Wood, Alan Cumming, Meredith Anne Bull, Maya Rudolph, Sam Paladdio
CLASSIFICATION: PG V
RUNNING TIME: 99 minutes
RATING: **Strange Magic, an animated riff on A Midsummer Night’s Dream that took root in the imagination of executive producer George Lucas, would have been more aptly named Strained Magic.
A shrill, garish hodgepodge of familiar elements from other animated vehicles, there’s virtually nothing about this forced, fractured fairy tale that feels remotely fresh or involving.
The Lucasfilm production is going to be hard-pressed to best its previous foray into feature animation, 2008’s similarly stilted Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Set in a pair of enchanted worlds far, far away, the story (as much as there is one) concerns the primrose flowers that separate both lands. While their petals are used to make potent love potions over on the Fairy Kingdom side, where the feisty Marianne (Wood) and her flighty sister Dawn (Bull) cavort, they are targeted for destruction by the Bog King (Cumming), who presides over the Dark Forest with a cold heart.
The bulk of the plotting that follows is primarily provided by snatches and snippets of well-known pop songs performed at the drop of a petal by its characters, voiced by a roster of squandered talents also including Kristin Chenoweth, Rudolph, Alfred Molina and Elijah Kelley. With Gary Rydstrom’s direction attempting to cover for that mere suggestion of a script he co-wrote with David Berenbaum and Irene Mecchi, it quickly becomes apparent that there’s simply no “there” there.
Stylistically, even the animated lead characters have about as much definition as gaming system avatars. – The Hollywood Reporter
If you liked Fern Gully or The Nut Job, you’ll like this.