The Legend of Ochi

Yuri, the daughter of the leader of a troop of child soldiers, lives on a small, remote island in the Black Sea inhabited by creatures called Ochi. Yuri feels that she is different than the others. When she finds a baby Ochi in a trap, she embarks on a journey to reunite the baby with its mother and finds herself on the way.

This movie is about adolescence and rebelling to become who you are meant to be. The story has potential, but there is limited backstory on the village, the people, the characters, the island, and the Ochi. The runtime of one hour and thirty-six minutes forces the story to get to the point quickly, but somehow, it still manages to create portions that make the movie drag. Fans of A24 might consider streaming it when available, but it could be skipped overall.

The Legend of Ochi is a A24's attempt at an E. T. movie. It follows a little girl as she attempts to take a cute baby creature home while being pursued by her angry father and his band of boys who are trying to exterminate the creatures. There has been a lot of attempts to make an E. T. like movie before but what makes this attempt charming is all of the creatures are done by puppetry. I am a sucker for puppetry so I really like it. The creature also has a great designs. The cast is ok with Willem Dafoe playing the out of touch dad and the girl playing the weird quirky kid. She isn't annoying but she isn't likable either. Finn Wolfhard plays the adoptive brother who has nothing to work with and is kinda an afterthought. The chemistry of the girl and the creature is good but unfortunately they take a decent size break in the middle of the movie so you never really get emotionally invested in their relationship. The creature is cute though so I enjoyed all the scenes it was in. Overall it's an ok sweet kid and its creature feature but nothing too memorable.

I went to Cinemark's "secret movie" last night. It was "The Legend of Ochi", a fantasy adventure film about a young girl (Helena Zengel) who lives on an isolated island who is taught to fear the titular creature. But when she finds an injured baby one, she embarks on a journey to return it to its mountain home. The puppet animation of the creature is amazing, but the story itself is a bit silly even for a children's film; Willem Dafoe as her father and Emily Watson as her mother are fine, but they do overact a bit. Finn Wolfhard is wasted as Dafoe's adopted "son". I would rate it as a 5/10 for adults - children and young adults may rate it a 7/10.

Once again, the world is introduced to a supremely cute and photogenic creature meant to evoke child-like joy. The only difference is, this isn't some E. T. knock-off, but more like a dark Disney film from the early 80s.

Filled with dark imagery, ominous music and some deep themes about parental control and relationships, The Legend of Ochi gives us a sense of fear, joy and triumph amidst the backdrop of the Carpathian Mountains. It's rare to see this kind of movie made these days, especially since the hyper reality of the film's world has a touch of Wes Anderson. Fortunately, the film doesn't go too hard in that department as the world feels a little more real than Anderson's sensibilities.

Overall, the story starts out pretty strong, giving us a very good foundation to focus on. However, it's the muddled middle where the problems begin. A couple of overly convenient contrivances occur, and while they were certainly meant to move the story quicker, it was still jarring in their sudden entrance.

The only other complaint was sometimes the VFX shots didn't look convincing, but this was a low budget movie and they did a good job considering their limitations. Overall, I found the film to be a joy and interesting to look at, which is fine from time to time.

One of the most visually interesting movies I've seen in a while. They certainly went for the nostalgia vibe, giving an 80s feel to the scenery. Plot was a bit boring for me, a tad predictable, but still enjoyable. I'm not sure if it was an issue for just my theater or an issue with the sound production, but it was incredibly loud throughout yet dialogue remained soft. I found myself covering my ears in many parts due to the overwhelmingly high-pitched sounds of the ochi and the background score and sounds just to be struggling to hear many of the characters when they spoke. Props for using an orchestral score. It was beautiful regardless of volume and added to the warm ambiance of the movie. Warming to those sensitive to loud and high-pitched sounds, you may not want to see this one in theaters.