Kenneth Branagh had us at Henry V before he even whipped out his Magic Flute seventeen years later.
Shot in 2006, coinciding with Mozart's 250th b'day bash, Branagh's candy-slicked, technicolor WWI rewrite (Papageno is sung by Benjamin Jay Davis as a pigeon-hustler who trench-trawls on mustard gas patrol) slowly rolled out across peculiar markets in big continents, North America excluded, but here we are seven years later for its USA premiere, which unfolds across 150 theaters powered by Emerging Pictures on Sunday (with an encore on June 11).
Okay, the special effects could benefit from a shot of botox and Stephen Fry Schikanedered the libretto, but the chemistry between wholesome Davis and charismatic Joseph Kaiser as Tamino make us pine for a buddy film sequel -- The Magic Oboe: What Do You Mean You Don't Know How To Play An Oboe? Dude That Bear's Totally Going To Eat You Alive.