‘The Legend of Ochi’ is the kind of pure movie magic you rarely get nowadays

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Find your spirit animal.

Synopsis

The Legend of Ochi follows teenager Yuri (Helena Zengel) who lives in the remote village of Carpathia with her father Maxim (Willem Dafoe) and brother Petro (Finn Wolfhard). In the dense forests surrounding them live the primate creatures known as Ochi, who Maxim, Petro, and their clan of boy soldiers hunt, as they believe them to be dangerous. When Yuri comes across a wounded baby Ochi in the woods, she goes on a treacherous journey to return it to its parents, putting Maxim and the crew on the hunt to track them down.

My thoughts

Have you ever watched a movie and it felt so heavily inspired by another filmmaker where it’s almost like you’ve stumbled upon some lost relic that nobody else seems to know about? The Legend of Ochi is exactly one of those types of movies. It’s a family movie, primarily with older children as its target audience. It’s not your typical kind of family movie, though, as the tone is quite dark and melancholic, but with a sense of wonder and adventure.

The Legend of Ochi is so heavily influenced by Steven Spielberg where it at times feels like you’re watching some obscure film of his that you’ve never heard of until now. That’s not to discredit the unique vision writer-director Isaiah Saxon and his crew had with this picture, as it’s 100% their own, it’s just the entire vibe of their movie is that perfect. Watching this movie unlocked a feeling of wonder and magic that seldom comes with movies nowadays.

Creature craftsmanship

After a career of directing music videos and experimenting with stop-motion animation effects, Isaiah Saxon makes his writing and directing feature film debut with The Legend of Ochi. It’s certainly one of the better debuts from a music video director, at least as far as the direction goes. Saxon’s artistic vision is crystal clear, so vivid and detailed that it practically convinces me this is exactly how his brain pictured it.

The amount of effort and attention that went into all of this is immediately apparent. You know that old saying, “They don’t make them like this anymore,”? Well, I must say that applies to The Legend of Ochi. Not only is it shot on location in Transylvania, but there are practical effects like animatronics, costumes, makeup, and even matte paintings! Incredible that Saxon and his crew were able to put this together for around $10 million because this looks better than most nine-figure budget films.

When making a movie that’s all about your fictional creature, you better make sure they look good, and the Ochi look astounding. The only time Saxon uses CGI for them is to touch up the puppets when they climb and jump through the trees, but pretty much everything you’re seeing here is 100% in camera. Whether it’s an animatronic for the baby or a guy in a suit for the adults, looking at the Ochi is just like you’re watching a living, breathing creature caught on film.

The way the Ochi are depicted perfectly compliment the film’s world where they’re a little bit fantastical looking, but still totally grounded in reality. Animatronic painter David Darby based their look off Chinese golden snub-nosed monkeys, so they’re cute in their own way, looking like some odd blend of a person, monkey, and alien. Like any wild animal, they can be endearing and even a little adorable from time to time, but it’s best to leave them alone, lest you suffer their wrath.

Some iffy green screen effects do pop up in the third act, but for the most part, you’re getting real sets of dingy, rundown shacks and people traversing through real woods and mountains. The numerous breathtaking matte paintings, some created by Saxon himself, were the highlight of his visual aesthetic. It’s a world that feels both real, but also a bit alien with some insane-looking backdrops. With practical effects receiving such a huge resurgence lately, here’s to hoping that this kicks off matte paintings getting the same treatment.

What really seals the deal is the tone, which is spot-on. It’s dark and grim but has an air of magical whimsy to it all. The Phoenix Film Festival screening I attended had a personal message from Saxon addressing the children in the audience, stating he made the film for them. This is still a movie that all ages can enjoy, but the tone is so finely tuned to children’s sensibilities that it might be a bit scary at times, but the wonderous visuals and adorable baby Ochi more than make up for that.

Hunting for emotion

I would say The Legend of Ochi has it all, but it’s unfortunately lacking in the screenplay department. This is definitely one of those “Avatar effect” movies for me where the technical elements are incredible, with the screenplay being just satisfactory enough to keep my interest through it all. The basic building blocks for a good story are there and everything is wrapped up well in the end, but I just wasn’t feeling the emotional connection to the characters that I felt like I should have been feeling.

The opening scene where all the characters are hunting the Ochi is one of the best opening scenes in recent memory, perfectly setting up the characters, world, and tone. The rest of the first act following that is also great, but it’s when Yuri finds the wounded baby Ochi that the storytelling gets a bit clunky. Pacing-wise, Saxon never quite finds his footing, so it never really feels like the narrative takes off. The screenplay simply goes through the motions to act as a vehicle for the audience to experience this world.

As you can see from the poster, this has a large cast, but aside from lead actress Helena Zengel, everybody here is pretty underutilized. Willem Dafoe and Emily Watson as Yuri’s separated parents were both entertaining to watch with how insane they act, but they really only end up being lovable kooks. More development into this bizarre family dynamic would have greatly added to Saxon’s already surreal atmosphere.

There’s also a large group of kids making up Maxim’s child soldiers, the only notable one being Petro played by Finn Wolfhard. Petro doesn’t really get to do much aside from offering a foil to Yuri’s worldview, with the rest of the kids in the clan having even less material to work with. Saxon shows each one of them in close-up at the beginning like they’re all going to be important somehow, but I think some of them don’t even get a single line.

Helena Zengel is a decent lead with believable chemistry between her human and Ochi co-stars. She was clearly having a lot of fun when Yuri got to access her more primitive side when interacting with baby Ochi. It’s only when she’s not speaking, which there are large sections of, in which her performance comes off a little flat. Yuri is certainly a precocious child, but some more charisma would have made her a more engaging protagonist.

Final verdict

Isaiah Saxon could have benefitted from a few more passes over the script for his feature film debut, or perhaps even a co-writer, as The Legend of Ochi is visually stunning, if not a tad emotionally hollow. It’s the screenplay that’s the only hollow thing around here, as every single technical element you’ll see is derived from pure, raw emotion and talent. No matter how critical I was about the writing while watching, my sense of awe and wonder never faded.

Do you know which legendary director rarely writes the screenplays for his own movies? Steven Spielberg! He’s had a hand in creating some of the most iconic films of all time and he didn’t even write their scripts. His movies may not have always been the best, but he’s always been able to conjure up that magic that makes him the director he is. From just one movie, I believe that Isaiah Saxon has that same ability. His directorial vision is that strong.

This means it’s only a matter of time until the Hollywood vultures swoop in and ask him to direct their next blockbuster slop. I wouldn’t blame Saxon for saying yes, but this is a talent that deserves to flourish.