Featured TV on DVD Review: Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom Movie

August 6, 2012

Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom Movie - Buy from Amazon

Winx Club is an Italian TV series that has been on the air since 2004. It is a large enough hit that after the third season, a movie was released theatrically there, Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom Movie. The show has also been dubbed and edited for American audiences and now it is coming out on DVD. Is the movie / TV show worth checking out? And is the DVD worth picking up?

The Show

The film begins where the events of season three left off, so if you haven't seen the TV series, it is a bit confusing. We do get a short narration to get us up to speed. Bloom was a regular girl living on Earth before she discovered her hidden magical power when she was revealed to be a fairy, a.k.a., a Winx.

When the movie begins, Bloom and the rest of the Winx are on their way to Hagen's castle. When they get there, Stella announces they have arrived and they are greeted by an army of robots. They get ready for battle, which gives the film a chance to introduce all of the faeries. There's Stella, fairy of the sun; Flora, fairy of the plants; Musa, fairy of Music; Tecna; fairy of Technology; Aisha, fairy of waves; and Bloom, fairy of the Dragonflame. The battle goes poorly at the beginning and it looks like they won't be able to win, but Tecna is able to scan for their power source and Bloom is able to destroy it. However, they won't be able to use a trick like that on Hagen. Fortunately, Faragonda shows up. She and Hagen were allies when he was in the Company of Light and she's able to explain the faeries' quest. They are trying to find Bloom's parents, King Oritel and Queen Marion, who are trapped in the magic dimension. Hagen had made a sword for King Oritel to help win the war against the Ancestral witches. It is indestructible and can't be taken from its rightful owner. Hagen can sense where the sword is, so he can find King Oritel by tracking the sword. Bloom asks him to do this for her, but Hagen has been trying to find King Oritel by trying to track the sword and has never sensed it. He's given up hope. He was Bloom's last chance and now she's devastated.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Winx are graduating from Alfea, the faery college, and becoming guardian faeries, all of them except Bloom. There's even a big ball the gang will attend, with their dates, of course. Bloom will be there with Prince Sky, even though she's not part of the graduating class. Before Bloom and Prince Sky can even dance, a spaceship arrives and a mysterious lady tells Prince Sky that she has orders to take him away. Prince Sky promises to explain everything to Bloom and then leaves. The next day, the faeries go their separate ways back to their home worlds where they will be guardians. All of them except Bloom, whose home world, Domino, was destroyed in the war against the Ancestral witches. She's returning to her adoptive parents. She's having troubles adapting to living back at home, something her adoptive parents notice. But she won't have too much time to deal with that, because she has a disturbing dream involving the Ancestral witches and the spirit of her sister, Daphne, who tells her that their parents are still alive and to not lose hope. She warns Bloom that her quest will be dangerous, but she must find the Book of Fate, which will tell her what happened to their parents.

The renewed hope felt by Bloom causes the Sword of Oritel to glow once again. This warns the Ancestral witches that the power Domino has not been destroyed after all. If even one ancestor of Domino survives, the planet will be able to rise again and destroy them. The three witches give their power to one of their warriors, Mandragora, who is sent find the source of this power, and kill it.

I really think you need to have seen the show before watching this movie. There are a lot of characters and a lot of interpersonal relationships to get caught up on. While watching this movie, I was reminded of two shows. On the one hand, it had a Sailor Moon vibe to it with its mix of magic and friendship, and of course, romance. Also, the faeries all go through transformation scenes early in the movie, and that really reminded me of Sailor Moon. However, the show isn't as good as Sailor Moon is. On the other hand, I got a bit of a Bratz vibe from it. The one character, Stella, was very superficial, which is definitely a trait found in the Bratz characters, but also the clothing they were wearing made them seem like they were aimed at a higher demographic. However, the show isn't as bad as Bratz is either. It has a good adventure plot that does offer more than fashion as a motivation in life. There's enough action and a sense of danger to make the actions of our heroes feel important, even if not all of the backstory is explained within its running time.

Overall, I think it will appeal to its target audience, those who have been watching the show for a while, but if you've never seen the show before, it is not a great introduction.

On a side note, the movie is presented in non-anamorphic wide screen. I have no idea why they would do that.

The Extras

The extras on the two-disc set are seven bonus episodes from the series. The series is 2D animated and not 3D animated, but that's the only major change in the basic setup. The episodes are the first seven from season four, starting with Wizards of the Black Circle. In the first episode, the Winx are attacked and defeated by four men, the titular Wizards of the Black Circle. In the second episode, Faragonda, explains what happened to the faeries of Earth. I do like how they setup continuing stories, so that there can be much more complex stories told, which does put it a step above most shows aimed at the same demographic.

The Verdict

The two-disc DVD release for Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom Movie costs just $15. That would be a reasonable price for just the movie or just the seven episodes of the TV show. To pay $15 for both is a great deal for fans of the show. If you haven't seen the show yet, start at the beginning.


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Filed under: Video Review, Winx Club - Il Segreto Del Regno Perduto