Load of rubbish!!

hyped garbage

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Spoiler alert......It was an okay storyline, but the Daniel character has issues saying the word damn over & over & over again. It might be okay if it was just once or twice, but we counted about 6x in about 20 min. Also when he shoots at a cat a bunch of times with a shotgun, it's a teency bit much. I wouldn't recommend this for small children. Unless you skip through those parts ;) other than that & a couple other scenes, it was okay. Our kids liked it.

Not perfect and could have been better, but it's a good, colourful and fun film and one of nWaves' better efforts.Story-wise, The House of Magic is somewhat standard fare and a few parts feel over-familiar and well-worn. It also slightly runs out of gas towards the end, becoming a little over the top and not as crisp pacing-wise as the rest of the film. Some people may also be disappointed by the lack of emotional resonance and depth.The animation however is wonderful (in 2D and 3D), the colours are vibrant and rich, there is so much detail and inventiveness in the backgrounds and the characters are well-modelled, cute but not overly-so. The magic scenes are very imaginatively animated too and the gizmos are cool. The House of Magic also boasts a catchy and whimsical soundtrack that compliments the film's mood ideally, and the pacing mostly is very lively in a film that can hardly be classed as 'boring'. The polished script is very high in zany wit, fun and charm, with some occasional dark weirdness that doesn't get in the way of the overall tone of the film and a whimsical quaint charm.While the story may not be exceptional, it is a long way from a disaster either, livened by some set pieces that are both fun and scary and some eye-popping spectacle for the magic and gizmos. The message is well-intended and sweet, and delivered in a way that doesn't preach. The characters are all cute and engaging, their likable personalities and the charming and entertaining interaction between them more than compensating for the lack of depth. The voice acting is strong.All in all, has some imperfections in the story but is mostly a very entertaining bag of tricks with a lot of great merits. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The animated film, Thunder and the House of Magic is directed by Ben Stassen Jeremy Degruson. The story is about a small, orange cat named, Thunder, who is abandoned by his owners. While wandering the neighborhood, he happens upon a supposedly haunted house, which is full of magical toys and an old magician.Although, Thunder is quickly accepted into the house by the elder performer, he is not immediately approved of by the rest of the group. Through several adventures and troubles arising with the magician's not- so-nice nephew, who is trying to sell the house against the magician's wishes, the group begins to bond.My favorite scene is when the old magician does a magic show for children in a local hospital. The magic is funny, imaginative and it is sweet that he does a show for kids in need.Parents should know that this film is not for little kids! In the beginning, Thunder is chased by a scary dog, almost gets hit by cars and nearly falls out of a tree. In the end, he is thought to be dead for a short period of time. There is also a bit of bad language. Therefore, I recommend this movie for ages 9 to 14.I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars for lovable characters and an original storyline. It is available now on DVD! Reviewed by Katie G., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic.

Most European animations intended for the mass market are often very disappointing either in a lame script or bland animation. Usually it is Hollywood that rules the roost here, but The House of Magic was a pleasantly surprising film released (in the UK) in a summer already overcrowded with family fare.Admittedly this film is aimed at a much younger market than say, the Marvel Films but nonetheless it is still doing the rounds where other animation like The Nut Job, How to train your dragon 2 and Planes 2 are also on release. I am a little surprised the distributors put it out during the summer because it obviously won't have the same kind of publicity as those big American productions but nonetheless I am glad to see it has been reasonably well received because it is actually quite watchable and likable. Although I saw the film in 2D I could see the scenes designed for the 3D release and can quite understand those that think its is one of the better 3D releases.The story is not terribly sophisticated, an abandoned little ginger kitten wanders into a spooky house and ends up fighting a greedy real estate agent who is trying to sell it behind his elderly magician uncle's back. After a sub plot involving the Rabbit and a mouse trying to get rid of the kitten the kitten ultimately ends up teaming up with the other inhabitants of the house (Rabbit, mouse, two lovebirds and various sentient inventions) plus two sick children to thwart him. The film does drag in a few places and is quite predictable but is extremely well animated, has fun with it's music cues (watch out for some classic British pop music from the 1980s) and will ultimately leave children and adults with a big grin on their face as the end credits roll. The script could have done with a few more laughs but anybody who has ever owned a cat will recognize how well translated the mannerisms of 'Thunder' the kitten have been done.Ultimately I found this to be an undemanding, very well animated and perfectly serviceable little film that has no offensive elements (although I agree with a previous reviewer who found the callous way the kitten is abandoned by its original owner to be a little bit upsetting). Nonetheless the film moves on quickly from that start and the reasons why he was abandoned are briefly addressed in the story (economic recession).I was going to give this film a 6 but 'Thunder' is such a cute creation and probably the most lovable cat in a film since Puss in Boots from Shrek that I gave it a 7.