A Magical Adventure: Mary and the Witch's Flower

Synopsis

One day, Mary follows Tib the black cat into the woods and discovers both a strange follow along with a little broomstick. To her astonishment, the broom jumps in her hand and before she knows it, she is whisked away to the grounds of Endor College. A school that is said to have “All Examinations Coached for by A Competent Staff of Fully-Qualified Witches.” However, things are not as they seem in this school.

The Good

For a work that features both the wonder and danger of magic, the film did a stellar job. Given the people behind the art and animation, there was no doubt that there would be some lovely animation work along with some interesting visuals. More than the art and animation, the story building was also an interesting point of the film. The way that it tackled the concept of learning magic and the mystery that was mixed in gave a unique look to the film. Basically, it was a solid fantasy film that gave a good amount of unique points.

The Bad

Let’s be honest here, there was a lot of expectations piled on this film given its background. However, let us also remember this is not Ghibli. Now, looking outside of the Ghibli lens, the pacing of the film was rather stretched out. We get some interesting points to the story but it doesn’t really seem to go anywhere. This mostly applies to David being this “chosen one” along with the villains and their story.

Conclusion

This was a good film, not great, not groundbreaking, but good. There were some solid fantasy elements and the visuals really helped along with this. The problem was that it built up a little too long and it felt like there was something lacking. Here we have some villains who are conducting experiments with magic and yet their stories don’t seem fully fleshed out. Then there is the dynamic between May and David which could have been handled better. So yes, this is not the most impactful of fantasy movies and it could have done better with its secondary characters, but its still an experience to watch at least.

Rating: 7.5/10