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Fantasy Films Film genres are categories, classifications or groups of films that have similar, familiar or instantly-recognizable patterns, techniques or conventions that include one or more of the following: setting, content, themes, plot, motifs, styles, structures, situations, characters (or characterizations), and stars. The genre that I chose to review was that of the fantasy genre in films. In general, “fantasy” is fiction in which things can exist and happen that would not normally exist and happen in our waking lives. Unlike science fiction, it is permissible in fantasy to violate physical laws as we know them, even to flout logic itself--although most modern readers favour stories in which fantasy elements are consistent within themselves. Though modern fantasy fiction is usually set in a world other than our own, this is not necessarily the case. Much of dark fantasy and magic realism is set in our world, with only minimal fantastic elements. Typically, fantasy includes several races, like elves, dwarves, and a variety of monsters that often takes place in Middle Ages. But fantasy can also take place upon the modern world, which uses real life and mysterious realms to create a sub-division of life. Magic plays a powerful role in the world of fantasy film. The Collins Cobuild Dictionary defines it this way: Magic n. Magic is a special power that occurs in stories and that some people believe in, that can make apparently impossible things happen. … Fantasy film often takes the audience to netherworld places where events take place that normally wouldn’t in real life. Fantasy transcends the bounds of human possibility and physical laws. They often have the element of magic, as proposed before, myth, wonder and the extraordinary. They also may appeal to both children and adults, depending on the particular film. In many cases, fantasy film often overlaps science fiction and horror genres in film. In fantasy film, when involving a hero, he/she often undergoes some kind of mystical experience, and must ask for aid from some kind of powerful subhuman forces on the outside. Typically however, princes and princesses are predominant in fantasy film. Some fantasy films also include quasi-religious or supernatural characters such as angels, lesser gods or fairies. Odd phenomena, physical aberrations, and incredible characters (sometimes monstrous characters that represent the divine or evil spirits, or magnificent magicians and sorcerers) are incorporated into fantasy films. They are usually inspired or taken from myth or legend and fill us with a marvellous sense of awe. The four fantasy films that I chose to review were Hook, directed by Steven Spielberg; Wizard of Oz, directed by Victor Fleming; Mary Poppins, directed by Robert Stevenson; and Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. I chose these four films because they were filled with endless magical schemes and plots, as well as mysterious and mythical creatures that added intensity to the film. Through each film that I have reviewed, I plan to show how each movie is dominant in the fantasy genre of film. HOOK, directed by Steven Spielberg: Steven Spielberg’s Hook is based upon the legend of Peter Pan.
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