A dreamer's muse: Movie : Magika

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Movie : Magika

Magika is another brave experiment from the KRU brothers. As I remember, the KRU brothers always try something different and do something that is not usually done by other people in the local entertainment industry. There may be some loopholes and brickbats but they keep thinking and moving forward. For that effort and vision, I salute them.

Back to Magika, if we can enjoy Narnia, Harry Potter and other fantasy movies alike, why can't we enjoy this Malaysian version of children fantasy movie, Magika? In a nutshell, this movie is entertaining and fun. First, it is a musical. So, between dialogues you may expect some songs and those songs are also the story. Some dialogues are delivered through singing. The songs are very nice. I must confess at first I almost laughed at the starting of the movie as I 'tak tahan' (couldn't stand it) to see Maya Karin in a fairy-like costume singing at the river. Feels like watching old Malay movies from the 50s - 60s era., but with colours. But then, I started to accept the concept of a musical film (in this modern days).

Talking about colour, the colours are amazing. Technical aspects aside (for I am not a tech-person), watching the movie is like watching beautiful pictures. Actors and actresses, they are all famous and widely known around the country. Characters? They are all of famous Malay heroes and mythical characters like Nenek Kebayan, Hang Tuah, Mahsuri, Awang (Lembing Awang Pulang ke Dayang), Naga Tasik Chini, Bawang Putih Bawang Merah, Pak Pandir, Orang Minyak and others (Funny I have to ransack my memories of Malay story characters just to find out who "Bad" is at first, ha ha). But there are so many characters that most of them appeared only in a short while, just to accommodate the journey of Ayu in search of her brother.

Oh, I have skipped the main part. I should have told you the main plot. Ayu and Malik are two siblings living in this current era, who are grieving for their mother's death, especially Malik as he thought that he was the cause of it. One day, Malik is being difficult and run away into the forest. Ayu, his older sister has to find him. Malik then lost into the world of Magika and is caught by Nenek Kebayan. Ayu, following his tracks, also went into Magika and had to encounter many strange things and meet strange people, whom later we know as the famous characters, in search of Malik. In Magika, their journey began.

Perhaps the ending is not so much alike as in fairy tales, and not so strong (not that I wanted it to be like in fairy tales..). The positive message (for Malik) is there but kind of hidden by the feeling of lost and longing in Ayu for Magika (sort of). Malik is the one benefiting the most lessons in this story but the sense of his accomplishments is only revealed by Ayu talking to her mother's grave. So, okay, but all in all, this 1 hour and 45 minutes movie is nice, fun and suitable for all ages. Kudos to KRU. Enjoy.