Movie Review: ‘strange Magic’ Casts A Musical Spell, But As A Movie It Misses

“Strange Magic,” the new animated musical fairy tale from the mind and the mixtape of George Lucas, is indeed strange. What’s missing is the magic. The first animation feature film collaboration since Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012 seems a contrivance at best. It plays very much like a long music video, albeit a relatively harmless, PG-rated one. Listening to “Strange Magic” – because you do find yourself listening at least as much as watching – it’s as if Lucas handed over a list of his favorite romantic pop ballads (he did choose the songs), then sketched out his story idea of a kingdom divided (Lucas gets that credit too).