The Craft: Legacy - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Craft: Legacy



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
It’s pretty much a fact that IF something is even remotely popular in cinema history, it WILL be remade or sequels written, at some time in the future. Well, that time has come for the 1990s cult film The Craft (which I reviewed HERE last year) to undergo that treatment. I was pretty sure that this was going to be a train wreck from the get go considering the fact that The Craft wasn’t exactly the greatest movie on earth (it’s a fun bit of 90s nostalgia, but it was never a GREAT film, even after gaining cult status) and the fact that Jason Blum’s “Bluhouse Pictures” was the one helming the project. And while I fully expected it to be bad, I was also entertained enough with the badness to begrudgingly accept that it’s not a HORRIBLE film, especially considering just how many truly awful horror sequels are out there.

One needn’t have to see the original to get anything out of The Craft: Legacy. This is a sort of sequel in name only, re-using elements of the original film without referencing directly TO that film, except for the 2 second cameo at the end of the movie by one of the original cast members of the 90s film playing the main characters biological mother (kind of a cool throwback, but also a complete throwaway moment as well unless they decide to make a 3rd film). The first two acts of the movie roughly follow the same general IDEA of the original The Craft film. A new girl moves to town named Lily (Cailee) where she soon meets up with 3 outcasts at her high school who just so happen to be “witches”. Their coven hasn’t really gained full power due to the fact that they don’t have a 4th member (both films rely heavily on the idea that there needs to be 4 points of power to fully take advantage of “the craft” that they’re gifted with).

As Lily and her new found friends delve deeper into their now unlocked magic, they see the benefits and curses of their powers. Love spells and spells to make people a better person soon spiral out of control, and the 4 girls become frightened that they’re not cut out for having this much power. However, the 3rd act brings in a new twist to the classic story. After we’re plied upon by scenes of the girls levitating (yeah, we’ve seen that before), chasing after boys, and generally just causing girlish mischief, we get to see the true villain of the movie. A roving warlock who has been stalking Lily her entire life, looking to rob her of her powers and rise to infinite heights with his newly gained abilities. This means the 4 have to band together to take down this ancient evil and use their abilities to actually do some good for once.

The Craft Legacy tries to emulate much of what made The Craft a decently fun movie back in the 90s, but also infuses it with modern actions and sensibilities. At the same time it deviates pretty drastically in tone from it’s predecessor. While The Craft was a very dark and brutal movie that dealt with girls controlling powers that ultimately led to their own destruction due to their inability to rise above the lust for power, Legacy is much more bubblegum pop esque in nature. The girls are goody girls with lots of teenage giggling and love spells, but also an over developed sense of morality that quells them from ever really have any REAL moral problems about their powers. Basically The Craft: Legacy’s quartet of girls is what happens if you put Captain Planet together with witch craft. Bubbly do gooders skating by just a little bit TOO easily. They go through some of the same issues that the girls from the first film do, but their super powers of goodness stave off any moral dilemmas that could create tension.

HOWEVER, I will give director/writer Zoe Lister-Jones credit for the 3rd act. It’s not a great act, but she shoots the film in off in a different direction that actually was a bit refreshing. Instead of rehashing the villain and problems of the first film she creates a brand new villain for the girls to fight against, and actually expanded the universe just a little bit. While that’s nifty and all, I still have a problem with the film playing things just a bit too safe. I understand not wanting to COMPLETELY rip off the original, but this movie doesn’t really feel too much in line with the universe of the original film. The darkness and cautionary tales of too much power isn’t there, but replaced with some hilarious “wokeness” (you’ll see it pretty obviously) and a timidity in creating characters with actual flaws in them. Everyone is just “too” perfect, and this makes it feel more like a Captain Planet episode with magic more than a The Craft flick. It is what it is.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, crude and sexual content, language and brief drug material




Video:

The digitally shot The Craft: Legacy looks very nice on Blu-ray, despite some obvious soft shots. The film is very crisp and clean for the most part, sporting some very solid colors and some well defined detail levels. Certain scenes seem to be a bit overly soft (such as when we see Lily look away from her locker early in the movie), to the point of being shockingly noticeable, but they’re never for very long, and never very often. Fine details are commendable though out the film, and with the obvious lack of CGI through the film’s story (luckily the movie doesn’t rely on a lot of crazy special effects for the powers) keep it from show it’s budgetary seams too much. Faces are well replicated and full of detail, while backdrops are great looking. Black levels are very solid, and outside some pretty normal banding, makes the entire 2.39:1 framed Blu-ray a very nice experience.






Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is just as pleasing as the video is, giving us a whole witch’s brew of auditory pleasure. Spell effects crackle in the foreground, as does the VERY robust and exciting musical score. Vocals are crisp and located up front where they’re supposed to be, and evenly balanced with the rest of the exuberant mix. Bass is tight and powerful, adding more than it’s fare share of low end “whomp” to the film’s action. Channel separation is quite nice, as is the tendency for the surrounds to be filled with activity ranging from spell effects to the background noise of high school. The track is never “magically” perfect, but it’s got the bases covered quite well does a great job with the low budget film.





Extras:

• 4 Alternate Scenes with an Introduction from the Director
• Franchise Legacy
• Powerful Story, Magical Director

Final Score: ​

The Craft: Legacy is what it is, as I said. It’s not a bad movie (or at least, not THAT bad), but it’s not a good movie either. Blumhouse films can be hit or miss, and the original The Craft was never a movie that was ridiculously good that it warranted a low budget sequel to begin with. The movie is a bit too bubblegum pop esque in nature, and while I did appreciate the cameo at the end, I don’t think it was enough to save the film from its mediocrity. The Blu-ray looks and sounds good though, so fans of the film should be rather pleased with the technical specs. That is except for the very lackluster extras. For those who really want a sequel to The Craft, by all means go ahead. But for everyone else, I would just skip it and stick to the original.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: David Duchovny, Michelle Monaghan, Cailee Spaerny, Zoey Luna, Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone
Directed by: Zoe Lister-Jones
Written by: Zoe Lister-Jones, Peter Filardi (Characters Based off of)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Sony
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 95 minutes
Blu-Ray Release December 22nd, 2020

Recommendation: Skip It

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will stick to the original.