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Heroes of the Golden Mask
Canada / China 2023
produced by
Gordon McGhie, Troy Arthur Taylor, Michelle O'Reilly, Yao Xiaoming, Yong Luo, Tang Xiongxing, Simon Li, Jim Kammerud (executive), Steve Pegram (executive), Chen Yunhua (executive), Zhang Zhihong (executive), Eric Hu (executive) for Golden Image Culture Communication
directed by Sean Patrick O'Reilly
starring the voices of Patton Oswalt, Kiefer O'Reilly, Jayne Eastwood, Byron Mann, Ron Perlman, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Christopher Plummer, Osric Chau, Zeus Mendoza, Sean Patrick O'Reilly, Jack Gillett, Kingston Chan, King Lau, Albert Steven Tsai, Rickie Wang, Michelle O'Reilly, Jett Wu
screenplay by Jim Kammerud, Brian Smith, based on the novel by John Wilson, created by Yao Xiaoming, music by Gordon McGhie, Eric Xin Hu, George Streicher
animation
review by
Mike Haberfelner
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Somewhere in fantasyland, baddie Kunyi (voiced by Ron Perlman), who
rides a winged tiger, wants to steal the jade blade that would grant him
absolute power from the tree of life situated in King Yufu's (King Lau)
palace, but that palace is guarded by the five Heroes of the Golden
Mask, led by Jiahao (Byron Mann) and also consisting of his daughter,
master archer Li (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), bulky Atlantean Aesop (Patton
Oswalt), shapeshifter Zhu (Osric Chau), and Mayan Zuma (Zeus Mendoza). But
in their last battle, Jiahao is killed, and with his last breath he sends
his daughter out to find a worthy successor - a quest that takes her to
modern day New York where the mask directs her to Charlie (Kiefer
O'Reilly), a young and orphaned streetkid and thief, and despite her
reservations, Li takes Charlie back to her world - but at first, Charlie
isn't very interested in becoming a hero for a cause that isn't his, and
only when he learns about masks being made of actual gold can he be swayed
... though he really just wants to steal the masks.
Kunyi attacks King Yufu's palace a couple more times, and against all
odds Charlie proves to be an asset to the team, as he makes up his lack of
experience on the battleground with street smartthat's unheard of in
fantasyland. But then Kunyi kidnaps Aesop's mother Helen (Jayne Eastwood),
something like a surrogate mum to the whole team, and thus lures the
heroes away from the palace, and on this quest Charlie makes good his
initial plan, crossing back to his world with his golden mask. But while
he abandons his friends in the fantasy realm, he soon runs into trouble in
form of his uncle Rizzo (Christopher Plummer), who has mentored and
enslaved him as a thief, and who of course wants to get his hands on
Charlie's mask. So it's really out of the fire into the frying pan for him
while almost certain doom for those he left behind ...
Frankly, this is a film that takes a time to grow on one, as
the opening battle with all its superheroics and fantastic beasts seems
pretty generic in today's cinematic landscape, but once Charlie's added to
the mix, with his character arc being a fish-out-of-water story, the movie
really comes into its own. And some pretty wonderful creature designs as
well as colourful backdrops make this a feast for the eyes, while nicely
fleshed out key characters keep things grounded and relatable, making this
a very likeable spectacle of a movie.
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amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
