This is the third film in the series, and the title means "The school of magic
animals". It's based on a series of children's books, of which 29 volumes have
been published since 2013. Twenty-nine books in eleven years? Wow, someone has
been busy!
Unlike the previous two films, most of the action takes place outside the
school. In the opening scenes two new magic animals are introduced and given
to deserving children, a crocodile and a cat. Both of them can talk, and both
are able to turn themselves into unmoving stuffed animals at any time; usually
when someone walks into the room who isn't allowed to see them.
The children are planning an event to show their support for the local forest.
They don't want the trees to be cut down to make way for a luxury hotel. The
trouble is that after months of planning it's announced that the fashion
designer Maja Malakara is putting on a fashion show in the local museum. That
doesn't matter to most of the class, but the 16-year-old Helena is a
moderately successful YouTuber, and she wants to boost her popularity with a live
broadcast of her class singing at the show. Can she persuade her classmates to
abandon the forest for the sake of her YouTube fame?
I say that Helena is 16, but that's only a guess. The children look and act
that age. It's 18 months since
the last film
was made, and fortunately the actors don't seem to have aged much. They won't
stay young for the next 26 films. Make up artists can't work miracles, however
good they are.
I've tagged this film as a musical. My definition is that a film is a musical
if the main characters burst into song at random during the film. A film isn't
a musical if the characters perform a song as part of the story. That's why I
say
"Rocketman"
is a musical, but
"Bohemian Rhapsody"
isn't. I make the further restriction that a film isn't a musical if the main
characters only sing at the end of the film, during or immediately before the
credits. That excludes
"Slumdog Millionaire". If I remember correctly, there are two scenes in "Die Schule der magischen
Tiere 3" in which there are spontaneous musical numbers.
It's a good film. Oliver loved it, and he's already asking when the fourth
part will be released. Personally, I don't think it's quite up to the level of
the previous film, but I'll decide when I watch it again.
It's definitely worth a rewatch.
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