Johnny Mysto: Boy Wizard

There some movies you just can't comment on. So just trust me, when i say it sucks, it sucks.

And not just sucks a little It sucks a lot

An evil being Malfeasor (Michael Ansara) has taken over Camelot. Merlin (Ian Abercrombie) sends a ring into the future time to bring back a hero to free the land. The ring instead comes into the possession of Johnny (Toran Caudell) a would-be child magician. Johnny inadvertently makes his sister disappear, so instead of a hero, he goes back in time with a lush has-been TV magician Blackmoor (Russ Tamblyn.) Now Merlin must rely on those two and a local child of his time Sprout (Amber Tamblyn.)

Will the three of them equal the hero that never showed?

Will the trio make a "Joseph Campbell's Heroes Journey?" Will this be enough to sober up Blackmoor?

Or will everything go awry leaving Glenn (Patrick Renna) to take the place of Jonny's sister forever?

This movie is a fair afternoon special with all the elements that go into the making of it has flashes to two different stories happening parallel in two different worlds one being an over-glorified mythic time in history with kids having to deal with evil adults and the other be an oversimplified modern time with kids having to deal with kids and ignorant adults.

It is a fairly well done movie that mixes present day and medieval adventure with a fair mix of Arthurian legend. A few cute touches thrown in will keep you entertained. It is best aimed at kids or kids at heart.

I guess when you watch one of these straight-to-video family movies made by a studio you've never heard of and starring actors you have never seen before (or since) you know not to expect too much. And, gee whiz, aren't there a lot of these movies around?? That being said, Johnny Mysto: Boy Wizard is better than most movies of this ilk and kids should be entertained and adults won't be too bored by it. As well as all the aforementioned unknown actors, this movie actually features a few better known thespians although you'll be wondering how low their careers have sunk to resort to appearing in this. Still, Russ Tamblyn and Michael Ansara do seem to be enjoying themselves. If you make sure not to set your expectations too high, you might too (at least a little).

Those were the words of a friend of mine as soon as this movie was over. But I can't completely agree with him. The film was decently entertaining, and if you're bored and have nothing else to watch, it's a good way to pass the time.

The direction is nothing special, in fact, I found the action scenes being very lackluster. The plot is nothing new. The acting is decent. But it's actually the atmosphere that is my major problem with this movie. It seems like a product of the 80's, when in fact it was made in 1996! It doesn't manage to escape the run-of-the-mill "fantasy" look. It doesn't manage to look different or special, and that was a real disappointment for me.

Kids will like it, but I doubt anybody else would want to watch it more than once if it's not part of their childhood memories.

4/10