The Magic Flute movie review

MOVIE TITLE: The Magic Flute

This modern-day twist on the famous opera premiered at the Zurich Film Festival in Switzerland and is now available to stream on many platforms. You can watch it for free on Roku’s free PlutoTV too.

RATING: PG

LENGTH: 2 hours

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: B

IN A NUTSHELL:

17-year-old Tim Walker as he travels from London to the Austrian Alps to attend the legendary Mozart boarding school. There, he discovers a centuries-old forgotten passageway into the fantastic world of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.”

The musical film was written and directed by Florian Sigl with writing help from Andrew Lowery and Jason Young.

THINGS I LIKED:

Jack Wolfe does a great job as the timid, yet talented Tim Walker.
The best vocal performance, by far, is by Sabine Devieilhe as the Queen of the Night.
Morris Robinson’s deep velvety voice sounded just like that of the beloved James Earl Jones, except that Morris can also sing!
Fun fact: F. Murray Abraham won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Antonio Salieri in another movie about Mozart in 1984, Amadeus.
It’s so much fun to travel to beautiful Austria in the movie. I’ve been there a couple of times and was so impressed with people’s love for music. It was evident everywhere. On one night, the opera was sold out in Vienna, so they said up giant screens outside the theater so people could sit on the sidewalk to watch the performance. Classy.
The movie utilizes a framework technique. That is to say, there’s a story within a story.
One of the good things about this movie is that it might expose audiences to the opera who wouldn’t normally go to the opera, especially young viewers.
Fans of the Harry Potter franchise will feel a familiar dynamic among students at the prestigious boarding music school in the Austrian alps.
Three spirits, three ladies, the three boys, and three trials: look for the parallels in the school scenes, the fantasy world, and the music itself. The number 3 is a symbolic number for the Freemasons. Mozart was a member and used quite a few masonic symbols in The Magic Flute.
Younger viewers will appreciate the more modern songs that are featured during the school scenes.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

I read quite a few reviews from Austrians and Germans who absolutely hated this movie. They’re definitely the expert on the original Magic Flute.
Visually, the movie is underwhelming, considering what it could have been. The Hollywood blockbuster director, Roland Emmerich, served as the executive producer, so I expected a BIG production.
Some of the CGI isn’t very good. Snake, I’m talking to you.
Fans and connoisseurs of The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart will be less impressed by the vocal performances, as well as the choices to change some of the original text in the songs.
The costume design was very simple and unimaginative, except for the queen’s attire.
The romance between Tim Walker and Sophiie wasn’t believable at all. There was another one that didn’t work as well.