Maika

Saw this back at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

Look I understand, this is a children movie. Children movies are meant to be entertaining for young viewers to sit back and be in awe with something funny, fast paced and highly enjoyable. I understand. But "Maika" suffers from a really cheesy and sloppy narrative with some of the most dated special effects that looked like something from an early 2010s movie. BAD special effects isn't a big problem if the story is still interesting but this isn't the case. The story is all over the place and it isn't helping with the special effects being really dated.

There's really no charm or passion to be found in Maika because it's really lazy and forgettable. The character development is really bad. The performances, in general, aren't good. All the acting is really over the top and felt really fake. None of the dialogue was realistic as I wasn't able to believe a single word from any of the characters. Now you may say "I am being too harsh" because they are children. I have seen a handful of films where the children actors are amazing. So I know what good child acting looks like. It's not here.

When watching this during the virtual fest, I was over at some relatives house and I decided to watch it with their child who was around the age of 9 years old. He clearly enjoyed this movie a lot more than I did which I didn't mind. This is a movie really just for kids. It isn't for a movie for me.

But honestly, it felt like I am watching "Jellyfish Eyes"

Not Good.

Rating: D+