It was one hot summer an Nickelodeon decided to air the wizard. I didn’t even know it was gaming or Nintendo related until deep involved in the movie’s plot. I really enjoyed it and the topping on the cake was seeing it became an Nintendo movie during the second half. while it had only been a few years since the movie came out, to me it already felt some ancient retro gaming movie. That’s how fast things felt in video game progression back then. This is our take on the greatest video game movie ever made.
It’s a perfect gamer coming of age and road trip movie, and even though it took place at the time it was made, to me it always felt like a set piece taking place in the late 80s. It’s literally a mirror back in time to how things used to be. I find reviews of this movie emphasise too much that Jimmy mentions California all the time but to me it’s more interesting how he gets the nickname the wizard for being so great at video games despite not having played them before. Some original lines like Lucas saying I love the Power Glove, it’s so bad. I can’t help but mention it. Despite everyone mentioning it, it just can’t be ignored, the delivery is so good, and it hits twice as hard since it was meant to be taken seriously. “Keep your Power gloves off her pal”, the music just sells it. (Lucas still holds her).
Anyone know what that even mean in 80s lingo? So bad that its good or that despite being so bad he still wns? The movie tends to have plenty of themes that might not seem as kid friendly as you’d expect a movie about Nintendo to be. Haley in general acts well I guess her age. She’s all over Corey that even Jimmy needs to tell her to back off. She will use anything to her advantage such as lying that someone touched her breast. I guess her mom being a showgirl in Las Vegas might have something to do wth that but she’s just street savvy in general. The whole movie just has adults or older kids beating up kids. I understand it’s done to raise the stakes in a kids movie but I still felt the need to comment on it.
Corey’s dad and brother play NES classics while trying to find them..that alone makes that whole b plot interesting. They never say how the kids are surviving through n ights and eating. I guess they kept making money but that breaks the illusion that they were having trouble getting to California in the first place. I mean they have a trucker friend and they don’t ask him for help until later. The first half tells us all about why we should care about the characters and it works. The second half is all fun Nintendo adventure. They go to Universal Studios where the now Super Nintendo world is located. The shilling is all over the palce and you can’t help but cheer, it’s indeed a Nintendo Direct made in 1989 for Super Mario Bros 3
Bitch is used during the movie appropriately as is TMNT, and people don’t often mention but it’s as much an advertisement for Universal Studios theme park as it is for Nintendo. That King Kong ride looked awesome and I remember it was awesome. This movie also immortalized the cabazon dinosaurs tourist trap, I still want to go there one day. The lunchbox. The movie is filled with 80s music which as I mentioned earlier makes you feel like you’re nostalgic for an era you didn’t really live. The hitchhike story in the beginning is all I ever dreamed about as having an adventure as a 10 year old. It looks as if it’s something that took weeks, I wondered how they changed clothes or showered, 9 days apparently but seems longer.
This movie shows how big Nintendo was during the NES era, despite the market being so much smaller than it is now. The deleted scenes are interesting, almost a full hour. Most of them are from the beginning act where they give more context on the backstory of the family dynamic. And while it’s interesting as an appendix explaining things not in the final movie, I can see why they were cut, they don’t make the movie better. Some of the deleted scenes from the second half however do feel like they add to the movie, they’re also shorter scenes. Video Armageddon was like a dream come true so I’m happy that Nintendo made it a thing with the world championships.