La leggenda dei cinque elementi

Aussies should steer clear of making anything fantasy or sci-fi, or horror, we cant do them well. Bad script, terrible and uninteresting characters, bad CGI / VFX. It was shot very well, Ill give it that. Actors were poor choices except for Lauren Esposito, she just passes but at least great to look at. Dont waste your time.

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!

I like "kids transported to another world" stories. Knowing that it was low budget I didn't expect much, and didn't get much either.

The acting was hit and miss (mostly miss). The story elements borrow heavily from Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, Jumanji, a little Monty Python, and even a hint of the original Land of the Lost. There are too many weird senseless portal jumps leading to confusing continuity with the story. At times it felt like scenes were left out. The elemental powers were woefully underdeveloped and underused. The wrap up completely under delivered.

It wasnt completely terrible though. There was some (if not enough) effort at character development. The Australian scenery was a plus. The overall idea and setting were decent even if derivative. The special effects were ok for a low budget film.

If there was a book I'd read it since it is bound to be better or at least be less confusing. Tighter and more thoughtful writing, more believable acting, and a little better editing and this might have been good: It could have been 6 stars or more. Sadly it wasn't. Waste time on it at your own risk.

The story was very inconsistent and the acting was absolutely woeful. The concept was okay but the scripting and story line didn't carry through.

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?