The Legend of Ochi review

THE LEGEND OF OCHI: 

ISAIAH SAXON EFFECTIVELY CRAFTS A LOST 80S FAMILY FANTASY! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

A24

The titular creature in The Legend of Ochi

 

            In the tradition of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and How to Train Your Dragon, director Isaiah Saxon makes his feature film directorial debut with his take on the classic child befriends extraordinary creature story with the new fantasy adventure, The Legend of Ochi. Much like 2022’s Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, this is a rare step into family-friendly territory for independent film studio, A24 so it’s probably a good thing there wasn’t a trailer for Bring Her Back before the movie. 

            I was interested in seeing this when I saw the trailer and posters though I hadn’t thought much about it as it was coming out. I only saw the trailer once in theaters in front of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and everything else was just through posters and images I saw. 

            Well, A24 surprised me with Marcel as that became one of my favorite films of 2022 so, how does Ochi stack up? It’s really good. 

            It isn’t a cinematic groundbreaker nor does it have the emotional weight of Marcel, but I found this to be a very charming, visually breathtaking, and imaginative family fantasy film that’s not afraid to go dark (PG dark) and a solid throwback to 80s fantasies like The Neverending Story, The Dark Crystal, and Return to Oz. 

            The film is set in a secluded northern village and follows a farm girl named Yuri (Helena Zengel-System Crasher, News of the World) who is taught not to go outside after dark and to fear the reclusive and mysterious creature known as the Ochi. But when she discovers and rescues a lost baby Ochi that resembles Grogu from The Mandalorian, Stitch, and Gizmo from Gremlins (The noises it makes even sound like the Mogwai from Gremlins), she embarks on an adventure to return it to its family. 

            The film also stars Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man, The Lighthouse, Nosferatu) as Maxim, Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things, Ghostbusters franchise, Hell of a Summer) as Petro, and Emily Watson (Punch-Drunk Love, Corpse Bride, The Theory of Everything) as Dasha. 

            Overall, The Legend of Ochi hits a lot of familiar beats you’ve seen in other films like this, but they’re executed incredibly well with a lot of love for what the filmmakers and cast are bringing to the screen. I think it helps that it’s a movie from an independent studio like A24 because under a mainstream distributor, it probably would have been significantly modernized and Willem Dafoe’s character would just be a straight-up bad guy, but instead the character is very humanized and goes through an arc. 

            Dafoe’s character reminded me a lot of Stoic from DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon as this gruff father figure who sees these mystical creatures as enemies, but through the person he’s protecting and actually seeing the creatures for himself, he learns they aren’t a threat. I probably don’t need to say Dafoe is amazing in this movie as he’s an actor who brings his A-game to every performance, you could probably cast him in a movie that’s utter garbage and he’ll still be incredibly entertaining. 

            Emily Watson is also a standout as this reclusive woman in the woods with a lot of knowledge about the Ochi. She balances between being friendly and a bit off very well and like Dafoe is very humanized and flawed thus making you invested in her story. 

            The effects on the Ochi are amazing with an immense use of practical effects and puppetry to the point where I was convinced it was created in CGI. Just goes to show that effects made from people’s blood, tears, and sweat is a lot more impressive and inspiring than generating everything in a computer though some computer animation was used in the film. 

            One of the things I enjoyed doing during my viewing was marveling at the film’s breathtaking cinematography and shots of mountain tops, definitely looks incredible on the big screen. Even the way the production design was done and how the movie was shot blew my mind as the film had this grainy 80s fantasy look to it that as mentioned before is reminiscent of films like The Neverending Story, Return to Oz, and others. 

            The movie isn’t afraid to go dark and is definitely a film that earns its PG rating, the opening sequence where Dafoe and his kids are hunting for the Ochi is pretty damn intense, some heavy themes about family dilemmas, and a few bloody injuries. 

            Despite this being a very sweet and solidly crafted family film, I don’t see this being an audience movie because of its slow pace and more artsy approach. Which is a shame because it’s an amazing movie that hits all the right notes yet A Minecraft Movie will probably still dance on its corpse in terms of box office revenue. 

            I really enjoyed The Legend of Ochi on both a technical and emotional level, it’s a family movie that isn’t cynical, doesn’t talk down to kids, and is touching without being shmaltzy. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re fond of 80s fantasy movies aimed at kids or inspired by great filmmaking then this one “Legend” to check out.