7/10
A Distinctive Children's Fantasy
10 January 2019
6 July 2017. Ablion holds up pretty well as a dazzling, colorful children's fantasy adventure. The landscapes are among the most vividly striking ever for a fantasy with standout colors that broadcast faraway and amazing places. Quite breathtaking. The storyline is predictable as most such fantasies must be nowadays, but this one has evolved a tad bit making it distinctive in continuing to set a slightly new bar for layered characters.

Two big distractions that take away some of the enjoyment factor are John Cleese's performance in his first appearance where is indomitable character is a bit too cheesy and perhaps so improvised comedy that it breaks the tone of the movie and later one there are some uncharacteristic lapses in the accompanying music that genuinely make the movie seem raggedly powerless and weak.

The distinctive characteristic of Albion is that director takes some risks in balancing the drama and comedy that collide with each other threatening to make this movie into a dumb screwball comedy (like the short-lived awkward fantasy-musical television series Galavant, 2015-2016) but somehow never quite succeeding thankfully. Overall, the sound track, the luscious and ethereal music, the decent acting, and the enriched most mature storyline for children contribute to retaining the audience interest.
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