The Legend of Ochi Has Stunning Visuals, But the Story Falls Short – Review

The Legend of Ochi has the best puppetry since Labyrinth.

While A24 is an extremely popular brand amongst film fanatics, their repertoire of family films is almost nonexistent. ‘The Legend of Ochi’ looks to fill that void in their lineup, and the movement is reinforced when the writer and director, Isaiah Saxon, appears on screen before the film to announce that he’s on the same side as the kiddos. Saxon also touts the film’s lack of CGI creatures and the use of practical effects in the film, a trend that is becoming more and more rare. The practical effects and puppetry are among the film’s best parts, while character development and plot take an unfortunate backseat.

The Story

In ‘The Legend of Ochi’, a young girl named Yuri (Helena Zengel) lives on the island of Carpathia, where she is forced along on hunts of local island inhabitants called the Ochi with her father, Maxim (Willem Dafoe) and brother, Petro (Finn Wolfhard). The Ochi are orange and blue mammals that resemble apes but are feared and treated as enemies by the locals of Carpathia. When Yuri discovers a young and injured Ochi, she makes it her mission to return the creature to its family with her father and brother in hot pursuit.

The friendship between Yuri and the small Ochi purposefully evokes the relationships we are nostalgic for from the movies we grew up with. Think along the lines of ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial‘ in which Elliot makes it his mission to help E.T. return home.

The actual puppetry of the Ochi itself is astounding and realistic. I constantly questioned Saxon’s claims that very few computer effects were used because there’s no way a puppet could look that real. It’s quite an accomplishment and easily the movie’s highlight, along with some stunning location photography.

While the movie is meant to make us recall the films we loved growing up, a new generation may have trouble grabbing onto this film with the same amount of reverence we have for movies like ‘The Neverending Story’ and ‘Labyrinth’. There is a fun core friendship between Yuri and Ochi, and some good comedic moments. However, the lack of character development and slow pacing could make ‘The Legend of Ochi’ too much of a slog for today’s kids to invest in. Even with a tight 90-minute runtime, some stretches of the movie feel overlong, especially when it’s easy to see where the plot is going.

Verdict

While ‘The Legend of Ochi’ has some stunning visuals and practical puppetry, the core story leaves a lot to be desired. There’s a fun friendship between the protagonist and her little Ochi pal, and an amusing performance from Willem Dafoe. It’s clearly evident that this film means a lot to the creators, but unfortunately, it fails to leave a lasting legacy compared to the films that inspired it.

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