SXSW FILM FESTIVAL

SXSW Review: We Are Wizards - Ken's Take

by Ken Evans
March 9, 2008

• US Release Date: SXSW Film Festival 2008
• Genre: Documentary
• Running Time: 79 minutes
• Directed by: Josh Koury
• on IMDb
•    7.5/10

My first film of SXSW and I wasn't disappointed. We Are Wizards deals with how the Harry Potter series of movies and books have affected its fans. What has sprung up since the series started is a bunch of fan web sites dealing with all news from the Harry Potter world and a new genre of music called "Wizard Rock". The first half of the documentary deals with this new genre from the viewpoint of a few bands like "Harry and the Potters" and "The Hungarian Horntails".

"Wizard Rock" was actually very interesting and entertaining to learn about. The band "Harry and the Potters", made up of two brothers, were hilarious and turned out to be the highlight of the film. The other band "The Hungarian Horntails" was extremely less interesting containing only a 7 year old kid who seemed to be just messing around on stage.

The rest of the documentary was a mess of music, religious controversy, Warner Brothers disputes and a guy who made a PG-13 rated soundtrack to play along with the first film. Overall I thought it was pretty enjoyable although it jumped between different subjects quite often. I'll admit I'm a Harry Potter fan and would really only recommend this documentary to other fans. Non-fans might find it interesting but will miss out on some of the jokes that you would only get if you were familiar with the Harry Potter world.

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Explore tags: Movie Reviews, SXSW 08