Crazy Kingdom

I can imagine it being directed by someone else, who would have further strangled the goofy characters who may be meant to be funny for children, and instead would have added in more readable definitions of good and evil that would be easier to identify with. Especially the "dark side" in this is pretty lame and if Polívka Sr. didn't have charisma in the minimum space that he’s given, it would have fallen apart completely. I can understand the move towards a more mature audience, who will rather appreciate a decent load of functional catchphrases. On the other hand, unfortunately, the dramaturgical imbalance is quite bad with their being too many characters to worry about. The director obviously lacks the art of shortcuts and everything moves forward more or less by itself because you know it's a fairy tale and it has to have a happy ending. On the other hand, somehow, it actually works surprisingly well. Mainly it’s the narrative locations, colorful cinematography, and (by Czech standards) awesome special effects that drive it forward visually, there’s minimal screaming, and there’s almost no cretinism of the characters. Hallelujah. 3 ½. PS: The biggest failure is the fact that the princess is an unsympathetic knob. And she's ugly. (25.02.2016)