The Amazing Wizard of Paws (2015)

You won't be disappointed!

An Exercise In Nonsense

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

To start off, this is a movie I hadn't heard of. One time while I was at the gym on the treadmill, one of the T.V.s had this movie on. It was on mute with closed captioning. It looked like a kid movie, yet it was more entertaining than the other things on T.V. like sports and the news. I was entertained with how much of it I saw while running the treadmill, and decided to rent it.I saw this movie, and even as an adult I loved it. Too bad it doesn't have the best reviews. I'll be a person that gives this movie a positive review. But, first I want to compare this to a story involving magic that we're all familiar with, Harry Potter. I've read the Harry Potter books and enjoyed them. I think they're clever, and I think the story of how J.K. Rowling didn't have the book originally published, but didn't give up and is now the second richest woman in England is very inspirational. At the same time, I think Harry Potter is extremely overrated and has its flaws in the book. One of the flaws, is I feel like the book focuses too much on the wizarding world, and not enough on the real world, and doesn't leave us with enough good messages, which I felt that this movie was inspirational, relatable, and left us with good messages.Now saying how Harry Potter is about a boy that's a wizard, this movie is about a boy named Bobby. The movie starts when he's 5, but we mostly see him as a 12-year old. He isn't considered a wizard, but a boy that is interested in magic, wanting to be a magician. Also, a shy boy who has a dog named Ozzy. He got that dog early in the movie, when it was stray not knowing the dog is very old and part of the wizarding community. Bobby walks everywhere with Ozzy, even places that you think normally wouldn't allow dogs. While Bobby looks for a book on magic, he really becomes a magician, and Ozzie immediately becomes more real. However, the main wizard villain is after the book too, and Bobby quickly learns that he is the chosen one.This movie has wizarding action. The kind of action we like to see in movies that involve wizards and action. This action to me, felt more realistic than the action we see in Harry Potter. The magic tricks felt like real magic tricks that we could imagine seeing in a magic show. I'll say that in the Harry Potter Universe, the magic in it doesn't feel much like magic, but just part of the wizarding world. What the wizards have and are capable of. This movie gave more of a feel of what we think of as magic.Another thing to say which I feel like this scene alone beats Harry Potter. I'd say the scariest scene in the movie, was a scene involving a suit of armor. I don't want to spoil it and say what happens, but that scene felt too real while watching it. It was very well done!! It could make you imagine being in the same situation.I feel like this movie could be even scarier than Harry Potter, because a lot of the things felt more real. I'm not saying this movie was too scary, definitely not. But, it did have scary scenes, especially the scene I mentioned above. You also really feel for the characters, and you hope Bobby can succeed at magic, along with getting money to help his mom who is having trouble paying for the house.I don't see why people don't like this movie? It's family friendly and at the same time has scary scenes. But, it really offers a perspective and good message. Sometimes, we have to believe in ourselves, along with getting ourselves out, not just being so shy. To me those messages came to me more than the messages from the Harry Potter books. I'd consider this a completely different story than Harry Potter, and a little better. I'd recommend this to you. But if you're like most of these other people reviewing the movie, you might not like it. If you're like me, and if what I posted above makes this movie sound interesting, you'll like it.

A man who looks like Merlin is being chased through the woods by a bearded man in a black robe who reminds me of a Harry Potter villain. They are being watched by a dog.We see the same dog as Bobby, who is about to turn 5, is playing catch with his father Jack who is not home much because he is about to become salesman of the year at his company.One night Jack is driving home and he is disoriented by bright lights. The next thing we know, a man who turns out to be a psychiatrist is talking to Bobby, along with teaching him magic. The psychiatrist explains that Bobby's problems are the result of losing his father.The dog keeps showing up, and eventually Bobby names him Oswald or "Ozzy" and persuades his mother that they should keep him. The villain from the woods shows up claiming the dog is his, but something isn't quite right and his mom calls the cops. Eventually, Ozzy is trained to be Bobby's service dog.Seven years later, Bobby is an expert on magic and while that helps make him popular at school, bullies make fun of him for having a service dog. Bobby's mother has lost her job and they may lose their nice house. And Tiny, a huge man who runs a diner, doesn't care what Bobby is allowed to do. That dog stays out! However, Tiny has a boss who disagrees, and later, Tiny regrets his actions. It's really funny.One day Bobby goes in a bookstore and a mysterious book appears. Bobby is curious and it turns out he has just enough money to buy it. The wizard from the woods shows up and explains to Bobby that he is responsible for taking care of the book. And bizarre things start happening. Bobby has the ability to do magic, not just fool people the way contestants on Penn & Teller's show do. And one more thing: Ozzy can TALK! And he has lots of advice for Bobby, as he explains that he was sent to Bobby and has been protecting him for years.Bobby figures out that his newfound abilities will help save him and his mother from being kicked out of their home. Meanwhile, there are plenty of obstacles in his way, including the fact that the villain from the woods shows up in a movie Bobby is watching (actually, it looks very much like the opening scene of this movie), and as one of the other people in the theater describes it, the 3-D effects in that movie are spectacular.After going through a very difficult process that includes several disappointments and failures, and plenty of laughs for us, Bobby gets his happy ending. It may not be the one you would expect, but it is quite satisfying.This is a mostly pleasant family movie, one appropriate for the entire family, though a few parents may be concerned about some minor details. It is kind of scary at times, and there is the loss of a parent (which is handled about as gently as it could be) but there is nothing particularly harmful.Will Spencer is quite good as 12-year-old Bobby and while there is sort of a formula here, this movie offers plenty of surprises.Jacob Whitkin does an impressive job as both the psychiatrist and the man who looks like Merlin.Numerous annoying inspirational songs from different genres show up from time to time. There was one song even I could like. I would describe the style as somewhere between Karen Carpenter and Feist.The visual effects are pretty impressive but not groundbreaking.It's pretty obvious more than one dog is used for Ozzy, and that some of the dogs may not be real. In fact, Ozzy generally looked kind of weird and unrealistic. Just use your imagination.It's a good family film with nothing really harmful.

... but this one was hard to sit through!The special effects were very cheesy and the magic was unimaginative, except for the moon part, which was pretty cool.The acting was abysmal overall. The actress who played the mom was superb, but the actor who played the starring role was just awful! I can see him in a smaller part, but to cast him in the starring role...? Who thought that was a good idea?! No disrespect towards the lad; he's still young, and with experience might be a fine actor someday, but his performance in this movie was as wooden as a fence post. Better casting in the lead role might have made a significant difference. The evil magician was no better, but at least he wasn't the main character and thus was tolerable.Spoiler warning ....There is an obvious hole in the plot at the end when Bobby puts his dog's service vest away because he no longer has the need for a crutch. That goes completely against the whole time-change arc! If the accident never happened, then Bobby would never have developed agoraphobia and the need for a service dog.I don't have any small children, and I imagine that a young child might actually enjoy this movie, but if you are over the age of 10 you will probably be disappointed. It's truly one of the blandest films I've seen in some time!

The film screened to over 1,000 kids and adults at the Sedona International Film Festival and the audience loved it! IMDb requests that I type ten lines of text to get this review submitted. I don't have ten lines of stuff to type, but maybe by talking about not having ten lines then IMDb will print this. I hope so, because I don't want to have to write an essay every time I see a movie and want to post a review on IMDb. Ten lines of text is a lot. I still haven't typed ten lines and I am exhausted! It still won't let me submit so here I am typing more and more lines. Still not at ten lines. Whew this is exhausting. I've never written ten lines in my life, but IMDb is insisting I do it.