Magus

This movie sounded very cool when I heard about it first, but I was disappointed to find out it was almost nothing like I thought it was. I expected a grand adventure to hunt down the mighty Magus, but instead I was treated to a 3 person army of slightly worn-out "wizards" that obviously are no match for the "mighty" Magus.

The conversations seem unrealistic at many points, the acting is a bit "forced" and I somehow get the feeling that I'm watching a toned-down version of power-rangers. Yes, that's right, I feel like I'm sometimes watching a kids-movie where they couldn't afford a fight-coordinator, and had to improvise the scenes themselves.

The story in itself seems lousy at best, and contains the clichè characters struggling to discover their true lost/undiscovered strengths. I felt like I had seen this movie many times before..

There are a few upsides to this movie which must be mentioned. The magic-effects actually look good, though they seem a bit limited in number of different effects.. As a man, I definitely enjoyed the nudity (hehe..), and I liked the concept of the movie. I'm sad to say, the list of upsides stops around that point..

All in all, it was *almost* worth watching, but definitely not worth paying for.. (and I put it that way because I'm nice..) During the movie I was struggling to keep me from shutting it off, and was left unimpressed at the ending screen. You can easily skip this movie, unless you really enjoy the concept of "real" magic, and want to see a few nice magic-effects. But honestly, you would MUCH rather just watch the Harry Potter movies for that.

MAGUS is the perfect example of talented filmmakers making the most out of a limited budget. This looks like a film that cost a LOT more than they could possibly have had. This director (John Lechago) is definitely worth watching. This is a great-looking film with credible performances (including a shockingly good one from Julie Strain), that has an interesting story, told at a quick pace. It also boasts some of the best special effects I've ever seen in a low-budget, direct-to-video film. It certainly tops anything you'd see on the Sci-fi channel or in the Roger Corman film library.

Magus is by no means a perfect film. It is, however, a fun movie with a lot of great moments (watch for the "magic sex" scene!), and some cool surprises. I, for one, certainly look forward to seeing what this crew comes up with next.

The look and feel of the film is terrific. For a reportedly modest budget, this film gives a lot of bang for the buck. While I could have stood for a little less 'girl/old man', and a LOT more 'hot chicks kicking ass',that's just a personal preference.

Lizzy Strain is a real find. She's going to be a HUGE star. Ron Fitzgerald, as well. The guy is the very definition of spooky.

I'd love to see a sequel in which the Magus' and his hottie sidekick go on a revenge killing spree, ending with the Old Man and Claudia getting what's coming to them. Call me crazy, but sometimes it's fun to see the bad guys win.

This movie was fairly decent and had a bit of potential; however, several things kept it from being great. The story was a bit bare, though it had enough to drive it to the end. The FX were pretty cool at times, but quite juvenile in other (the ending sequence was as cheesy as it gets and reminded me of crappy FX you see in 70's films). Worst of all was the acting, or lack thereof. It sounded like all, I repeat, ALL of the actors were reading straight from the script, you know, like reading a book out loud without and acting even being attempted. This might as well have been a read session instead of the final film.

I forced myself through it just to see what they threw at us. It was cool at times, but quite corny/cheesy/dumb in others. It's not on par with the Warlock series, but good to kill a few hours on the weekend or late at night. There was a gratuitous full-frontal scene in it, if that will help get you through the film (nice bod!).

All-in-all, not too bad but shallow story, poor acting, err.. reading, and blah FX in some places kept this film from getting a better grade. It was better than most straight-to-video films I've seen.

You see, average, disappointing movies get 4 or 5. Only true indie movies ever get 2 or 3. They are either too stupid, under-budget or unintentionally funny that they are worth seeing.

Well, I wouldn't call this worth seeing. After all it is a bad script, terrible acting, clichéd story and '84 special effects are top of the line. But you can see that the people actually tried, even if completely lacking any talent. You get your evil wizard and his sexy fighting sidechick, you get the retired old good wizard and his lovely (ahem :( ) niece and a lot of secondary characters that either die in a blaze of ... magic or stick helplessly around. In the end good wins.

Bottom line: this proves that anyone can make a movie. Even if almost a complete failure, at least it is not overrated: what you see is what you get. They have tried, gave their best, and I respect that.