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Posted by Pyro (Member # 7658) on :
 
O.K. I've recently come across quite a few reviews on this movie on youtube and other such sites tearing it apart for being such a lame movie. So, since this movie just barely qualifies as an 80's movie, (released Dec. 15th, 1989), I guess it's about time I give my two-cents on it.


The Wizard (1989) - (Starring): Fred Savage, Luke Edwards, Jenny Lewis, Beau Bridges, Christian Slater


Plot(Wiki):

Jimmy (Edwards) is a young boy who has suffered from an unnamed, but serious mental disorder (strongly implied to be autism) ever since his twin sister drowned in a river. He doesn't interact with anyone, spending most of his time building things out of blocks or boxes, and he always carries his lunch box with him. He's determined to go to "California", at first the only word he can say since the tragedy. The trauma of the drowning and Jimmy's condition has broken up his family: he lives with his mother and stepfather, while his half-brothers Corey (Savage) and Nick (Christian Slater) live with their father Sam (Beau Bridges). When Jimmy is put into an institution, Corey breaks him out and runs away with him to California. Jimmy's mother and stepfather hire Putnam (Will Seltzer), a greedy and sleazy runaway-child hunter, to only bring back Jimmy, who competes with Corey's father and older brother to find the boys and sabotage each other's efforts.

Along the way, they meet a girl named Haley (Lewis), who is on her way home to Reno. Discovering that Jimmy has an innate skill at playing video games, Haley (who nicknames him "the Wizard") tells them about "Video Armageddon", a video game tournament with a cash prize of $50,000. She then agrees to help the two reach Los Angeles to participate in it for a cut of the money. By doing so, they hope to prove that Jimmy doesn't need to live in an institution. The trio hitchhike across the country, using Jimmy's skill and appearance to hustle people out of their money by playing video games.


My Review:

So being that I was a 10 year old hardcore NES Junkie when this movie first came about. I thought it was the most awesome movie EVER! So if I were reviewing this movie through my 10-year-old eyes again. I'd still probably be saying the same thing. But, being that it's now 22 years later and technology, video games, and movies themselves have come a long way since then. I'm forced to review this film through a nostalgic lens instead. I suppose I can say I am a little bit more mature than I was back in 1989 too, though not by much..lol.

Now, don't let the melodramatic and almost brutally sad tone of the plot posted above fool you. Though that IS the actual plot, the film does everything in it's power to distract you from it. Though the main character Jimmy is in fact mentally ill, he is portrayed as more of a video game playing puppet than anything else. So it's kind of hard to connect or feel very sorry for him. And thus, I found myself almost hating Fred Savage's character for kidnapping him out of the blue and encouraging him to act in this manner which would probably cause him further mental harm. But, that's probably just me over-analyzing a bit too much. They are just kids after all. And yes, we have Fred Savage in this film riding high upon his cloud of fame created from "The Wonder Years."

Tagging along for the ride is a young Jenny Lewis playing the part of Haley. A tom-boyish & street-wise hustler with an even wiser mouth that somehow works to the trios benefit in a few scenes. A rather awkward and supposedly innocent love story builds throughout the film between Haley & Corey. And we're also led to believe that Jimmy might have a bit of a thing for her too. This sub-plot is given a couple of minor and decent scenes for further development. But overall is tossed aside to get back to the main purpose which is more shameless NES promo.



"I Love the Power Glove...It's So Bad!"

I still really enjoy the love/hate relationship between Beau Bridges & Christian Slater in this movie too. I still find myself chuckling during a couple of scenes when they're on the road or sharing dumpy roadside motel rooms together.



So anyway, as a whole, I say this movie is pretty mediocre for grown-ups, but one I think kids today might enjoy. The plot given above actually plays more as a series of sub-plots to make way for the real purpose of this movie. A 100 min long commercial for various NES games and accessories. Most notably The Power Glove, and Super Mario Bros 3, (which had yet to be released in North America at that time). Throw in random screenshots of NES game play throughout the movie and also some climactic Universal Studios shots...And that's basically your movie. So IMO, if you took out all the NES stuff and just focused on the sub-plots, then this movie isn't really that bad at all. But, as is, it's pretty shameless and cheesy.


My Rating:
5 magic flutes out of 10

[ 11. February 2023, 20:58: Message edited by: Pyro ]
 

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Posted by Devolution (Member # 1731) on :
 
Devolution here,

The funniest part of that is the fact that they knew where all of the shortcuts and tricks were to a game that hadn't come out yet.

It's the first video cheat of all time.

We are DEVO
 

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Posted by Pyro (Member # 7658) on :
 
Ahhh yes, I almost forgot about that Devo. Yeah, they knew exactly where to find those hidden areas, and they never even had seen the game before. And in actuality, none of those things actually improved your overall score in the game. I don't remember getting bonus points for finding a flute, warping, or getting a star at the end of a level. So yeah, that entire final showdown scene is extremely bogus. The way Jimmy was playing Lucas should have beat him easily.

[ 11. February 2017, 11:37: Message edited by: Pyro ]
 

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Posted by Veronica Sawyer (Member # 2221) on :
 
Loved this movie when I was a kid! Still kinda love it now. Pyro, you forgot to mention the soundtrack which included songs by NKOTB and Bobby Brown lol. I got to meet Jenny Lewis several years ago after her band's concert in Chicago. She looked pretty much the same! I didn't dare mention the wizard to her though...
 

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Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
 
I think that while this is still a nice and decent movie,
it´s nowadays more a fantastic time-capsule back to the days when NES was the king.
Shameless promo - yes, but they had the money and the will to do it and i´m sure that it paid off.

The cast did a decent job and the story is your basic "underdog beats the odds" stuff
and there´s lots road movie feel in it too.

Seeing Beau Bridges play NES video game looked hilarious, i´m sure it was his first time ever
 

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Posted by The Good Package (Member # 9492) on :
 
i thought lucas was a dork. he seemed to me to be someone who was trying to cling to some sort of talent to gain a identity out of it. the truth of it is he comes off as a spoiled rich kid, he has to be rich, nobody could afford that many games back then without excessive moolah.

then he gets defeated by savage's little brother and this great world that he created for himself in his mind comes tumbling down and he enters a state of depression, spending the rest of his life wallowing in self pity, to me he is the funniest character of the movie because of this

also this seems like a kid version of the movie rain man
 

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Posted by The Good Package (Member # 9492) on :
 
anybody think maybe savage could have done the home alone part better than culkin?
 

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Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
 


So you're saying that my power glove is out of style?

[ 28. March 2012, 17:45: Message edited by: Valley ]
 

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Posted by Pyro (Member # 7658) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by The Good Package:
anybody think maybe savage could have done the home alone part better than culkin?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Veronica Sawyer:
Loved this movie when I was a kid! Still kinda love it now. Pyro, you forgot to mention the soundtrack which included songs by NKOTB and Bobby Brown lol. I got to meet Jenny Lewis several years ago after her band's concert in Chicago. She looked pretty much the same! I didn't dare mention the wizard to her though...

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