The Legend of Ochi

A24's first family feature film offers a decent throwback to the 80s sci-fi fantasy stories that were created and it's clear the filmmaker has a lot of passion. The colorful background, designs, costumes and the special effects are all wonderful and beautifully designed to capture the atmosphere and tone. Alongside with the layers of the designs of the creatures and the make up. It reminds me a lot of The Neverending Story vibe.

With the musical score being pretty good and the atmosphere, I appreciate the new world concept the filmmaker is able to make as I love to see a new whole world to be made or explored. The performances from the cast are all pretty good and the creature, Ochi, is so cute!

However, what holds the movie back from being good is the writing and structure. The writing offers new concepts and ideas but the cliche approach to how it navigates the scenarios starts to feel uninteresting and doesn't hit the emotional impact. Alongside with the thinly written characters that really made me struggle to connect with their goals or understand their motivations. Kind of a shame since I love the vibe but I did wish the writing was better.

Overall, it's a good movie from children as it is a clear film for family entertainment. A24 recently has been having a weird timeline of movies ever since they opened to make more commerical films.

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.

This film has atmosphere, I'll give it that. The previews had me excited to check it out; Willem DaFoe hunting ape monsters in a viking outfit? Sign me up! The production design is top notch, the strange lost in time setting of Carpathia is beautiful and haunting, and the creature design and execution is very well done.

The story, on the other hand, seems to be an afterthought. The dialogue is indistinct (figuratively and literally; oftentimes I had no idea what they were saying), and the characters really lacked any nuance or development. Quirky for the sake of quirkiness.

My main gripe, though, is that it mostly fails as a kids' movie. I normally love slow, atmospheric films, but this one moved like the tectonic plates that formed the mountains of Catpathia. I brought my 9-year old and he didn't hesitate to tell me how boring he found the film, and we left before it ended. There was very little humor, and most of the parts that seemed to be attempts at laughs fell completely flat.

I really wanted to like this film. I admire the dedication to practical effects, and the attention to feeling and atmosphere in the world building. Unfortunately, the lack of a compelling story or characters made this into a slog.

It's a heartwarming story that reminds me of 80s/90s adventure movies. Linear story line, no need for over developed backstory. Super easy watch with really cute creatures. I watched it with my 12 year old and we both had a great time. Don't pay attention to the poor ratings by other users. Definitely not a waste of time.

My wife and I look for a pleasant movie after our weekly steak and wine dinner, with chocolate cake of course. This one fit the bill, interesting, magical, mystical story of getting along with misunderstood strangers.

We watched it at home, on Blu-Ray from our public library. There is an 18-minute "extra" where the filmmaker explains the genesis of the project, how he went about getting it made, and many interesting aspects of making the movie. As a film nerd I enjoyed the "extra" as much as I enjoyed the movie.

It is set on a small, fictional island but was filmed in the mountains of Romania. The Ochi, an ape-like wild creature, are feared and hunted. One day, checking the animal traps, the 12-yr-old daughter finds a baby Ochi with its leg caught in one. She feels for it, frees it, and brings it home in her backpack.

I admit I didn't like all of the scenes, but the overall theme, of learning to understand and accept things that are different, is a worthwhile one.

As a movie I don't rate it particular high, but as entertainment we enjoyed it as something different from the usual. Having Willem Dafoe and Emily Watson as the dad and mom of the kids was a good touch.