Review – Wizards

Imagine Charles “Peanuts” Schultz dropping acid and reading J.R.R. Tolkein, and you’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s in store for you in this vintage Ralph Bakshi offering. I can remember being impressed by this movie the first time I saw it, but that was many years ago when animation in general wasn’t especially sophisticated, I was a lot younger, and it was a lot easier to win me over with little more than scantily-clad elf women. Viewing it again all these years later, I’m more than a little embarrassed that I used to like this dog. The script is a dreadful, ham-handed hash of anti-war platitudes, and the rotoscoping from Eisenstein (among other sources) that seemed so avant garde once upon a time now just seems as dated as the theme. The nicest word I can think of to describe this picture is “quaint,” and other, less friendly words – such as “preachy,” “ill-conceived,” and “stupid” – also come to mind. See if desperate