With a steampunk aesthetic and a color palette inspired by the four elements, Magikland’s theatrical release poster sold the movie as an Encantadia-esque fantasy film. However, the viewers of the film will be shocked to see that Magikland offers stunning graphics and effects. The recently-concluded 46th Metro Manila Film Festival Gabi ng Parangal affirms this artistic mastery, awarding the film with the Best Visual Effects award. There’s more than what meets the eye, though, as the animated film still lacks a smooth and consistent story flow.
The movie opens with the destruction of Magikland, with Mogrodo-or (Jaime Zabarte) taking over as its immoral king. Under a tyrannical reign, Princess Diya (Hailey Mendez) asks for help from the unknowing residents of Metro Manila in saving her land. She launches a special Christmas challenge in an interactive mobile game, announcing that the highest scorers will win the chance to visit and save Magikland. The four top scorers of the challenge—Boy (Miggs Cuaderno), Mara (Elijah Alejo), Kit (Princess Rabara), and Pat (Joshua Eugenio)—are then sucked into the game to save Magikland before Mogrodo-or finds out.
The Philippine animation scene has proved that the quality of animated movies have certainly improved, with works such as Saving Sally (2016) coming up in recent years. Magikland takes it up a notch by combining CGI animation with live-action shots, making the film feel truly magical. The movie’s mythical creatures and supernatural powers come alive with the high-quality 3D animation, leaving viewers in awe of the seemingly realistic yet ethereal visual effects.
Despite the glitz and glamour of Magikland’s graphics, the storyline of the film could use more polishing.
The film adopts a formulaic plot structure: The heroes embark on an adventure in search of a magical item, fall out in the middle of the journey, then reunite and defeat evil. There is little to no effort to go beyond the themes of films within the same genre.
However, it is worth noting that Magikland ties in a modern setting in contrast to the pre-colonial mythology setting of the game the four kids are sucked into. The present-day environment shown at the start of the film provides commentary on the current generation’s fixation with their personal gadgets, preventing them from “connecting” with their families.
The film’s unrefined camera work ruins the plot progression, too. Some of the scenes employ jump cut editing, creating plot holes throughout the story and making the film’s ending seem rushed. Abrupt cuts from one segment to the next awkwardly ends some scenes, which the film would have been better off without as it provided no substance to the overall development of the plot.Overall, Philippine animation has come a long way from clunky motion graphics and unrealistic effects, as proved by Magikland. However, the magic of the film must go beyond its visual confines, as enchantment should stem from the story itself—something Magikland neglected to do.