The Legend of the Five

I think Samuels had a decent concept here, and with the luxury of the backdrop of the beautiful Australian Blue Mountains, it should have been a winner. Overall the production let it down for me. The talent misfired all over the place but I will keep a watch on Gabi Sproule, something intriguing there. The rest, not so much, the 'lead' was very disappointing despite the LA hype. Obviously family favours through this production, sad given how many unemployed true professionals are available. But hey, it's a kid's movie so I was hoping my nine year old would enjoy it regardless. Unfortunately he found it confusing (I agreed) and too much with the CGI that could have been toned down, it jolts you out of whatever carriage the movie manages to generate. We didn't stay to the end so I didn't get to see how this was funded. I hope Samuels gets another opportunity with some better production support to get it to hang together in a coherent fashion. A misfire all round given some of the ingredients and the opportunity.

The movie certainly shows the love for fading in and out, and the stupidity of the characters/kids is unreal and resembles Japanese anime in extreme ignorance.

The director should go back to school as there is nothing intelligent about this movie. However, the actors are actually halfway decent for their roles despite being made to look like they have an IQ of 60.

Firstly, it's a kids film. Just remind yourself of that when you watch it.My 10 and 13 year olds loved it. I did not. The characters were annoying and miscast. Javier Torres (played by Nicholas Andrianakos) was a useless character. Probably the hunk character for the girls, but I was hoping he would be killed off. Owen Clarke (played by Leigh Joel Scott) looked like a 30 year old guy. At least he knew things that helped. Kaylee Liu (played by Deborah An) was the arty type who 'grew up'. Yawn. Caitlin Fisher (played by Gabi Sproule) was the bimboesque girl that grew a backbone. She was the most interesting. Zoe Caldera (played by Lauren Esposito) is the lead character. Funny that her sister/mother is the Executive Producer and she is the co-producer. I think another relative is the 'best boy'. Her accent ranged from Australian to American, depending on the scene.

Once you resign to the fact that things don't make a heap of sense, feel free to enjoy the special effects, because boy I had a hard time understanding the flow of the story. The best part was I got a choc-top ice cream!

Coming to Busselton, West Australia for the Cinefest Oz weekend has been exciting except for one 93 minute time heist; The Legend of the Five viewing. Excruciatingly confusing, boring, ill conceived, badly acted, unoriginal ..... a film lacking any redeeming features. The age group this film is aiming to attract, adolescents, were walking out. I leave this review with a couple of questions ....... why is a reputable film festival including such tosh in their program? And finally, how on earth did this tosh get made?

I guess it depends on who you are.

Five high school students on a class trip get transported to a fantasy world. On their quest to return home they discover they are elementals.

I'll watch anything. But appreciate where it's coming from .And, although it's low budget, it could be WAY worse (Riddle Room -a 2016 movie that was REALLY not worth it! Or The Girl- w/Michael Biehn and Tia Carrere- really OH SO BAD!).

This seemed like a high school play production done outside. The story has potential but the writing could be a little more elaborate.

As it opens, the main character is struggling with her mother's death, but holding it together for her father, who enters the scene. It's hard to tell what the actor's motivation is in the scene. Is he angry? Is he abusive? No? Oh, he's supposed to be sad? Good thing that's his only scene. Bad thing he's in the opening.

The acting was amateurish. Gabi Sproule, in my opinion did best- and this was her only credit on IMDB. The main actor is listed as a producer, her mother as executive producer. Also Joanne Samuel, the director, has her son (Jesse Ahern- also a producer) to do film editing, music editing and supervise visual effects. Although it could have been better, it could have been worse. The ending leads us to believe there could be a part 2. If it happens a better writer, director and editor could greatly improve the ratings.