It’s time for a film that very much feels like how I would picture a Legend of Zelda movie to play out. There are some differences to be sure but you can definitely see the inspiration the whole time. It’s a very serviceable film. There have been way better ones out there to be sure but there’s also nothing really bad about this one. It’s a film that goes by quickly and should keep your attention.

The film starts off by introducing us to Taran who is super bored the whole time. He wants to be a cool warrior who gets stuff done and instead he basically just looks after the livestock. Well, things change one day when his pig uses future-sight to see that the Black Cauldron threat is very real and the Horned King will be making a move. Fortunately the King doesn’t know where it is so Taran heads out with the pig to keep him safe. Unfortunately it doesn’t take long at all for the pig to be captured. The King is ever closer to his goal. Can Taran become the hero he has always known that he could be or is it game over for him?

Taran means well and he makes for a pretty decent main character. The guy may be quick to get frustrated but at the end of the day he is trying to do his best. It would be good if he had some more real skill though. Sure he may not have had an opportunity to fight against any powerful super villains but he could have been training his body so that he would be ready when the trials arrived. The guy is incredibly weak and has to rely on a super sword to do anything. The sword is really cool but Taran needed to put in more work.

Then we have the Princess who is a go getter. She proactively goes after her goals and makes for a solid ally. Even when Taran blows up at her early on, she doesn’t let it stop her for long. She tends to look on the bright side of things. Whenever a princess is out there on the front lines I definitely respect that. She looks way better than Gurgi who takes too long to have his big courageous moment. It’s a classic character arc of going from being the coward to being a talented ally but you still have to go through it quickly because otherwise you’re just dreading his scenes. Giving up and deciding not to help out when the time comes is hard to really come back from.

I’m sure the old man who owned the pig was scared to send Taran out the way that he did but the guy just steadied himself and made the tough choices. It’s what you have to do. Then we have another ally in Fflam who is also not the bravest sort but he gets with the program right away. This guy was a lot more fun and had way more of a complete personality. In a way you could argue that his presence alone ended up hurting Gurgi quite a bit because it showed the gap between them even more than you would have naturally noticed otherwise.

Generally speaking the supporting cast are a bit on the weaker side though. I didn’t care for the small old fairies, the three fairy godmother of sorts who would be bartering, etc. One of them was constantly flirting which was definitely a choice but yeah these characters were just not going to keep the film interesting. It’s why we are very fortunate that Tara and the Princess were solid since thing could have been tricky otherwise.

I did like the main villain but he suffers from an incredible lack of screentime. He talks tough here and there but then he vanishes for large portions of the film. He’s just completely gone and then when he does show up in the climax he isn’t strong enough to resist gravity. Ultimately this makes him lose all of his hype because the tough talk means nothing by that point. It’s a shame because he has the design and the voice down 100%! Just another minutes could have really done wonders to make the film more memorable as well.

The animation certainly holds up really well too. It’s very active with a lot going on as the characters move around very rapidly. There is some intriguing CG type visuals near the end but those are still fun to see. The bolder CG can at least leave more of an impression than some of the modern ones that aren’t really trying anything serious. The best looking shot of the film is probably when the burning sword activates. It really makes an impact and just looks really impressive. It works well as a Master Sword substitute.

So at the end of the day the characters are the weak point here and what could easily fix the film is to make them a bit bolder next time around. Give Taran more of a hook or an edge to him beyond just wanting to be a hero. Give the princess more witty banter and for the coward sidekick, maybe just make him evil from the jump and eventually he starts to turn good. Just some ideas on how you could make them resonate more with the audience, I think that would be effective in keeping this from just blending in.

Overall, The Black Cauldron is a good movie. It starts out fast with the hero getting into the evil castle right away and from there the plot continues to adapt and change. It may not stand out next to other fantasy adventures but it still makes for an easy watch when you have the time. I would have liked a longer climax with more action against the main villain though. The actual ending was more on the anticlimactic side. They could probably do better in a remake but instead I’d say this film should just get a sequel. With the intros out of the way we can jump right into the action.

Overall 7/10