The Amazing Wizard of Paws (2015)

Fantastic!

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

A man who looks like Merlin is being chased through the woods by a bearded man in a black robe who reminds me of a Harry Potter villain. They are being watched by a dog.We see the same dog as Bobby, who is about to turn 5, is playing catch with his father Jack who is not home much because he is about to become salesman of the year at his company.One night Jack is driving home and he is disoriented by bright lights. The next thing we know, a man who turns out to be a psychiatrist is talking to Bobby, along with teaching him magic. The psychiatrist explains that Bobby's problems are the result of losing his father.The dog keeps showing up, and eventually Bobby names him Oswald or "Ozzy" and persuades his mother that they should keep him. The villain from the woods shows up claiming the dog is his, but something isn't quite right and his mom calls the cops. Eventually, Ozzy is trained to be Bobby's service dog.Seven years later, Bobby is an expert on magic and while that helps make him popular at school, bullies make fun of him for having a service dog. Bobby's mother has lost her job and they may lose their nice house. And Tiny, a huge man who runs a diner, doesn't care what Bobby is allowed to do. That dog stays out! However, Tiny has a boss who disagrees, and later, Tiny regrets his actions. It's really funny.One day Bobby goes in a bookstore and a mysterious book appears. Bobby is curious and it turns out he has just enough money to buy it. The wizard from the woods shows up and explains to Bobby that he is responsible for taking care of the book. And bizarre things start happening. Bobby has the ability to do magic, not just fool people the way contestants on Penn & Teller's show do. And one more thing: Ozzy can TALK! And he has lots of advice for Bobby, as he explains that he was sent to Bobby and has been protecting him for years.Bobby figures out that his newfound abilities will help save him and his mother from being kicked out of their home. Meanwhile, there are plenty of obstacles in his way, including the fact that the villain from the woods shows up in a movie Bobby is watching (actually, it looks very much like the opening scene of this movie), and as one of the other people in the theater describes it, the 3-D effects in that movie are spectacular.After going through a very difficult process that includes several disappointments and failures, and plenty of laughs for us, Bobby gets his happy ending. It may not be the one you would expect, but it is quite satisfying.This is a mostly pleasant family movie, one appropriate for the entire family, though a few parents may be concerned about some minor details. It is kind of scary at times, and there is the loss of a parent (which is handled about as gently as it could be) but there is nothing particularly harmful.Will Spencer is quite good as 12-year-old Bobby and while there is sort of a formula here, this movie offers plenty of surprises.Jacob Whitkin does an impressive job as both the psychiatrist and the man who looks like Merlin.Numerous annoying inspirational songs from different genres show up from time to time. There was one song even I could like. I would describe the style as somewhere between Karen Carpenter and Feist.The visual effects are pretty impressive but not groundbreaking.It's pretty obvious more than one dog is used for Ozzy, and that some of the dogs may not be real. In fact, Ozzy generally looked kind of weird and unrealistic. Just use your imagination.It's a good family film with nothing really harmful.

... but this one was hard to sit through!The special effects were very cheesy and the magic was unimaginative, except for the moon part, which was pretty cool.The acting was abysmal overall. The actress who played the mom was superb, but the actor who played the starring role was just awful! I can see him in a smaller part, but to cast him in the starring role...? Who thought that was a good idea?! No disrespect towards the lad; he's still young, and with experience might be a fine actor someday, but his performance in this movie was as wooden as a fence post. Better casting in the lead role might have made a significant difference. The evil magician was no better, but at least he wasn't the main character and thus was tolerable.Spoiler warning ....There is an obvious hole in the plot at the end when Bobby puts his dog's service vest away because he no longer has the need for a crutch. That goes completely against the whole time-change arc! If the accident never happened, then Bobby would never have developed agoraphobia and the need for a service dog.I don't have any small children, and I imagine that a young child might actually enjoy this movie, but if you are over the age of 10 you will probably be disappointed. It's truly one of the blandest films I've seen in some time!

I'm honestly stunned that this script got approved and was actually made into a "movie"! Outside of the terrible acting from basically every cast member the story was incredibly weak with more holes in it than Swiss Cheese! The special effects looked like they were done by a high schooler working on a class project. As the movie progresses (if you can even call it that) it looks like the cast and crew started giving up on the movie and just threw random clips in and used non experienced actors to play small roles. This is very obvious in the Million Dollar Talent Show segment. It's almost too hard to watch! I can't image this movie doing well at all unless the budget was $10,000 and someone forced a bunch of people to go see it. Hopefully nothing like this ever gets made again!

The film screened to over 1,000 kids and adults at the Sedona International Film Festival and the audience loved it! IMDb requests that I type ten lines of text to get this review submitted. I don't have ten lines of stuff to type, but maybe by talking about not having ten lines then IMDb will print this. I hope so, because I don't want to have to write an essay every time I see a movie and want to post a review on IMDb. Ten lines of text is a lot. I still haven't typed ten lines and I am exhausted! It still won't let me submit so here I am typing more and more lines. Still not at ten lines. Whew this is exhausting. I've never written ten lines in my life, but IMDb is insisting I do it.