Blaze could have been so great. The concept sounds fantastic and Savage is doing a great job as the main. Most of the coming of age parts are actually really well done and the movie portrays the process of trauma management in a way that feels relatable.
However, the main hook of the movie is poorly executed. There is a huge disconnect between the style of the over the top candy colored visions of Blaze and the emotional minefield that its main characters navigate through.
Furthermore, these scenes are a one trick pony. Every single one of them blasts you with melodramatic pop songs with lyrics that are right in your face, there is no subtlety. There is no space to ponder about the meaning of what you're seeing because it screams it right at you. And quite frankly, it's annoying.
The moment I realized that each of these scenes will be like this was the most heart breaking moment of the movie. I don't say that to mock the people involved, I actually mean it. Because there is a ton of potential here, if these scenes were handled better this movie could have been one of this years best. But sadly it just screams: "look how childish, colorful, fantastic yet sad I am! Look at me! Look at me!" And boy, did that get on my nerves at some point.
Also, I don't think the make up and costumes are all that great in these scenes. The movie looks a bit cheesy and the dragon itself doesn't work as a character due to its design. It isn't emotional expressive which makes the movie fall apart in some scenes where it feels like Blaze had to actually say what the dragon is feeling.
These scenes rarely add something significant to the story. Some are outright pathetic (especially the ones near the end of the movie). And they felt out of place. Like they were tacked on as an afterthought.
In the end, this might have been the best time I had with such a flawed movie in a long time but it was so cringe inducing at times I couldn't fully enjoy the main story.
If you are more open minded about flashiness or if you don't feel the cringe with melodramatic contemporary songs featuring a howling singer than you might enjoy this movie way more than I did. But I don't think this was good enough to get a recommendation from me.
(Saw this at the Slash Filmfestival, Vienna)
