SXSW Movie Review: We Are Wizards
Posted by Brian C. Gibson (brian@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 12, 2008
The Harry Potter franchise indisputably has to be one of the largest movie fan bases in the world of film. It is a pretty well known fact that there are alot of fans, but most people do not know that even some fans…have fans. It is called ‘Wizard Rock’, and it is rock music based on the world of Harry Potter. Is this just a sub-pop-culture phenomena, or is this fan hood at its best?
This film shows you several ‘Wizard Rock’ bands, and their climb into fame. You get to see this from both a fan and the band perspective. The bands include Harry and The Potters, The Hungarian Horntails, Draco and the Malfoys and The Whomping Willows. What started simply as a joke for most of these bands, it turned into something fun and unique. The bands were given an opportunity to perform, and to show tribute to a franchise that they love. The lyrics of these songs are mostly hysterical, but also quite impressive considering their inspiration. One of the more interesting aspects is that their fans seem to embrace their music probably as much, if not more than the source. Some fans even travel entire states to see these bands tour.
Another performance act that has gained attention in Potter lore is that of artist Brad Neely. He started performing narration that would layer over the actual dialog of the films. This audio track could be played while synced with the movie, to create Neely’s own hysterical spin on the series of films. Neely’s contribution to this film is immense, as he provides most of the laughter from this one. The comedy relief is a nice contrast to the bleak and misguided shortcomings of the film.
The film loses its track and starts to trek through the legal battles associated with Warner Brothers studios and the Harry Potter fans. This is a bit out of place and quickly slams the tone of the film into a different direction. The legal battles are obviously has relevance, but should not be a major focal point of the film. It seriously shifts the overall feel of the film from light and funny to serious and uninteresting. The film would have been a must see, had it not veered into an unexpected direction. Overall though, We Are Wizards was fun and entertaining, but not my favorite of the festival.
We Are Wizards was directed by Josh Koury, whose previous directorial effort was the 2002 documentary Standing By Yourself. Wizards premiered on March 8, 2008 at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas.
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