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.

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.

You have to be impressed with the level of the martial arts brawls in this film, and for a limited budget in an independent film it works for the movie itself. I felt bad that I missed the preview of the movie at Gothicfest 2007 (Ron and I were billed on the roster for signings that weekend.) Since he got to check out some of my work -- I grabbed this film up.

I haven't seen the other films yet but to see Ron in this kind of film, what he does in real life as an illusionist makes this film a little more something you have to pay attention to in the details. It talks about Wizard's codes and such. Ron carries this film with his character as Magus.

Lizzy and half-sister Julie Strain work together in this one, and the younger half sister has some impressive fight sequences especially when she's putting her skills to someone who either has a Krav Maga or Savate background.

This is the kind of story that is designed for Fitzgerald, and the writer I think actually did his research since he worked with Ron previously. This is the film I will say is made for Ron exclusively to play in, the horror elements are strong in this one and also are the crime noir elements because his character got a job as hit-man in one scene.

I was drawn the most to the fights (and looks like they had actors who are very much trained in their disciplines either as a street fighter or the grappling arts. I would love to see the live fight demonstrations with this film.) As a martial artist myself I can appreciate this film.

I won't give away the fight scene at the end of the film but I will say this much, expect to hear some bones breaking in parts because the main female villain actually would pull off some vicious spin kicks. (one of the wizards looked if she was trained in Tae Kwan Do. The speed of the fights would give me that hint, but don't quote me on this.) This is a horror film that also works as a Martial Arts movie.

I have to give it to the writer / director for having some experienced martial artists on board. I don't think the punches were faked in this one, because they did connect. They must had a damn good martial arts trainer for the sequences because there was a combination of grace and brutality with each punch, kick, block, throw, and choke. I am curious to figure out how long did it take to train each actress and actor who have the martial arts styles. If they want to do the live demonstration of the fight scenes for this movie -- get the mats out because one of them studied a cousin to Judo.

They had to have a medium sized budget to afford a high performance sports car for one of the scenes. Hot ladies, fast cars and faster fights. It gets you watching, and I am curious to see how the story was written to see where it played out into the screen. For a straight to DVD fare -- I am impressed. This would be one of those I think would do well on a large screen too if given the chance.

Considering this was an Indy film with a modest budget, I was very impressed. My hat is off to Mr. Lechago for writing and directing an excellent story. The special effects were great. I enjoyed the characters, especially The Magus Fernos. Ron Fitzgerald really brought life to this role. I'm sure we will be seeing more of him in the future. Bill Steele and Lizzy Strain also delivered strong performances. Magus captured my attention from beginning to end. Michael Sean Colin did an outstanding job with the music. I have seen many films on Sci-Fi that can't hold a candle to Magus. All my best to everyone who worked on this film. Great job! This is a great Indy film with all the right elements.

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.