This is the second Winx Club movie, and like the first (Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom) it is a self-contained, high-quality experience independent of the series. Both movies differentiate themselves with computer-generated graphics in contrast to the television show’s traditional animation (and this take is not about debating which style is best).
Flora was looking good (despite a tragic peroxide accident). Someone needs to remind the animators that her hair is supposed to be brown.
We will say that if you are going to do something, do it well. This movie for the most part has strong art design. You can make a lot of ideas look good with computer graphics. However if an idea really stinks, even the graphics may not save it. But good ideas abound, like interesting and fitting manifestations of the different character’s powers. The magics were not reduced to different colored balls of light. Such copouts plagued the television series’ fourth season.
Oh, and when in doubt, take inspiration from a classic.
Set designs and artistic touches were a visual treat. Almost all the places visited, and they were quite varied, were rich in their own way. From the mundane, like Bloom’s earthly parents home, to the fantastic like Bloom’s biological parent’s castle. Plus there were surprise colourful transitions like that GIF at the top.
Average park? Average looks? Average clothes? There is nothing average about the Winx girls. Isn't this how everyone dolls themselves up for a stroll in the fabulously average park?
The action scenes were some of the best choreographed of the franchise. It was not just blast after blast. There was maneuvering, defense and strategy. Important to us as well was the original Company of Light was not dissed. King Oritel, now restored and in his prime was not treated as second-tier to highlight the Winx girls. Instead he was out there kicking butt as one would expect from the leader of that legendary band.
King Oritel is back, and he remembered how to pose.
However this movie experience is not without flaw. Someone over in the costume design department:
- got too cute
- got drunk
- passed the work off to an intern
- is colorblind
We say this because some of the outfits were just dreadful in contrast to those cool battle suits the girls wore in the first movie.
You don't need Timmy's I.Q. to realize someone spilled paint all over Tecna's outfit.
This collection of clashing, garish awful outfits is only better for Musa. Her believix pantaloons are not hard to best...
No new characters were introduced. The villains were the Trix, who we were glad to see back (and computer generated), and the ancestral witches whose storyline we were glad to see wrap up. Despite this known cast we still felt as though we experienced travel and newness within the breadth of the wide Winx universe. This starts right at the beginning with a fun, narrated introductory 5 minutes. It was surprisingly “techy” for a magic based series.
Remember when teleporting only required Stella's cool Solarian staff and not a nuclear blast? Ah, those were the days...
The Winx girls are unperturbed! (Despite being bombarded by gamma rays...)
The movie also fell prey to the, “we know what little girls like and are going to give it to them whether it fits this movie or not” syndrome. The lead character Bloom is the primary victim of this. Sometimes portrayed as a 10-year-old girl living the fantasy life of a princess in a beautiful castle being given a pony. At other times dressing as a slightly provocative teen and lip locking with her boyfriend at times both appropriate and strange.
However this Picasso-esque virtual communication scene was visually pleasing.
We really do think the plot was too focus grouped and marketing oriented in the sense that it included every element in which a 10-year-old girl might be interested:
- horses
- flying horses
- unicorns
- flying unicorns
- boyfriends
- evening gowns
- princesses
- castles
- princes
- forced marriages
- arch enemies
- BFFs
- big sisters
- garish clothing
- and amusing high school antics
Uhh...
Thankfully there was little Kiko, and even less pixies.
If you are a fan of the franchise, most flaws are easy to overlook and this movie is definitely worth seeing. Chronologically it takes place before the second half of season four. Critically we think it holds together better and makes more sense than those mishmashed, somewhat misguided episodes.
Produce more like this Straffi and perhaps Winx will attract a new generation of fans.
What can we learn from this picture? Bloom's Earth mother was a hippie. (Oh, and Bloom may not have been the prettiest baby...)
F o r t r e s s T a k e s 
Hey! Brandeline here again!
It’s so hilarious! A nerdy Bloom, and I can’t imagine. =) I don’t think people should act as the Winx, as they don’t even look like the Winx and would spoil the Winx’s image! Look at the Winx power show and the original links:
Hopefully they would get it in their mind that nobody can have the hair like Tecna. 🙂 BTW, where’s Roxy? Was she forgotten? And I think Tecna doesn’t look like herself.
Just a compliment for the Winx Club Adventure Show, they looked really 3D!
Yes, most of the time it is hard for a cosplayer to catch the visual essence of a drawn or CGI character. The Winx girls and their outrageous proportions perhaps more so than most. However occasionally, someone does do it well, so for those hits we think the attempts are worth it. Hits like:
Of course, you may have noticed that we are also entertained by some cosplay that may not be considered a close match. BTW, is the above picture of enchantix Flora, or Paris Hilton?
As for your point about Tecna, we agree there is something just fractionally off about her CGI appearance. It is not bad, just different. Something about the eyes perhaps. Maybe they injected some Asian influence. We like thinking of her as British-ish as we were influenced by the 4Kids translation. We think that kind of personality fits her demeanor well.
Remember me?
I am thrilled you did this!! I waited and waited for it!!
Personally I loved the movie – true- I wasn’t fangirl squealing, but thats cause our dub stinks! XD Don’t believe it? Well I made an ultimate low quality video on Baltic States dubs( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc4TvMwLxm4&feature=channel_video_title)
Anyhow I think it was Great, but I agree that lately Winx tends to go too overly girly, its like they try to force girly stuff in too much rather than letting it flow, but it didn’t bother me much. Also I wasn’t least bit bothered by Tecna’s clothes.
And i just think Its AMAZING that they managed to go though entire film without introducing a singly stupid one-shot character.
It was really close to Good old Winx Club I fell ion love with. Almost the sae.
Speaking of good and old…
Remember when teleporting only required Stella’s cool Solarian staff and not a nuclear blast? Ah, those were the days…
That just CRACKED me up so much!! Thank you!!!! You made my day!
Helina
As for cosplayers, you cant be too mean on them. They are fans and you know they try their best i actually think Flora outfit above is awesome.
I just wonder why I said the last three lines…. nno one was ever mean. Oh, well. Sorry.
Welcome back Winxhelina. We appreciate your colourful and energetic posts.
Thank you for understanding that we enjoy cosplayers. We can appreciate fun characters and the desire to dress like them. However cosplying a Winx girl can be difficult. Some people do it well, like the GiorgiaCosplay pictures I posted in the comment above. (But doesn’t she look a little like Paris Hilton from that angle in that particular picture?)
Apparently, even Tecna must occasionally wait for a slow connection. We thought her exercise outfit in the movie was not the worst actually. And it did not clash like some of the others. There are plenty of cool outfits in Magica Avventura… just maybe those exercise outfits are not amongst them.
Good point about Winx getting a little girly. We understand that is the show’s primary audience, but it did used to have broader appeal.
Teleporting? It has become so intense! A “little trans-dimensional puddle jump” used to be no problem for Stella’s Ring of Solaria staff. We miss that thing. It kicked butt and added personality and difference to Stella..
Ah yes i personally greatly enjoyed the battles of this movie. Mostly due to Oritel though, FINALLY someone that – looks like it – has some skills as a warrior. Personally i dislike the absence of Bloom’s mother ( Hello? Super powerful fairy that they left behind ) and also, a fact that’s been bugging me for awhile. Almost all of the winx club are princesses of their realm, and ESPECIALLY when their magic wore off, aren’t they supposed to have a army or have guards or something like that?
Please keep this up ^_^ greatly enjoy your reviews.
You are right about Bloom’s mother Miriam. Like Oritel, she was another kick-butt member of the company of light. The members of which are still powerful even if not preserved in time. For example, Faragonda did pretty well one on one against Valtor in season 3. It was great to see Oritel in action, but the sudden inaction of Miriam was noteworthy.
hi everyone im stella i live un soloria my momy is qeen luna and my daddy is king raduis
That’s nice 🙂
I HATE BLOOM! SHE ALWAYS THINKS AND MAKES EVERYTHING ABOUT HER!
the only ones who don’t make it about them is flora, techna and muza!!!!!
I would actually like to see more of flora,techna and muza!!!!
We definitely understand. We hope Straffi and Co. realize it is an ensemble cast. Give every character a little time. Make sub-plots, etc.
Well… In Season 1, they focused on Bloom and a little on Musa’s history. In Season 2, it was Musa and Layla’s turn. In Season 3, it was Bloom and Stella(they showed Flora’s sister and Musa’s mother too). In Season 4: Roxy and Bloom again?! So now it was Bloom 3 times? Maybe Season 4 was acceptable as it was based on Earth, but they haven’t gave much history of Tecna and Flora….
Your comments are fun and interesting Brandeline (Your “That’s nice.” comment above made us chuckle today.)
Season 1 was naturally a good fit for Bloom background. It was good to see the others fleshed out in the later seasons. Season 4… yeah, they seemed a little “off” in their plotting. You make a good point that it was Earth, Bloom’s home turf. Perhaps over-focus on Bloom in the previous seasons made more focus less acceptable in 4. Also, the way season 4 executed that focus. Too heavy handed. Straffi, there are 5 other Winx girls you know. They each could have taught Roxy something.
The show is not called, “Bloom and Her Amazing Magical Friends.” It is a CLUB.
I have to agree. Although I’m a musa fan, I have realized something. The main character (bloom ) is always the most favorite character (bloom). So what I think is that each season should have a different main character, that way there are no left out characters like Musa, Flora, or Techna
🙂
The first season did not bother us in this regard. The rest of the cast were strong, independent, and greatly different. Compare that to season 4 where the girls characters were homogenized into into a pasty, bland substance with Bloom always at the front.
We do want to see more Tecna. Perhaps her home world. We miss her humor and antics.
You see its all about her and sky, but never anyone else!
Agreed. In season one, I understand why Bloom got a big part. In season two, it did focus on Musa and Layla for a bit. In season three, at the beginning it did focus on Stella for a bit. Also on Flora, I agree. But it got a bit boring when Bloom was finding more about her parents. In season four, I was hoping for a chance to see Tecna’s history but no. They had to focus on Roxy which was fine, but I wanted to see at least one episode for learning about Tecna’s history. So what if Tecna is the least favorite? There are Tecna fans waiting for an episode exclusively about her! We never really got to see Musa’s home planet but at least we got to learn about her past. (BTW, Musa’s my favorite character.) So far from what I saw, Tecna didn’t have her own episode about learning about her past, am I right? We don’t know anything about her parents, or any struggles she had. It really was about Bloom, Bloom, Bloom despite that she’s the main character. And in season four, it didn’t feel like I know the winx anymore. Even though Musa is still my favorite character, I prefered her tomboyish personality she had in season 1 to 3. Now she’s all girly. (But still my fav.) I also agree, Magical Adventure was like a 10 year old girly fantasy. Ponies, unicorns, castles, ect. But I still liked it. What about the fact that they added more to Bloom’s story? Eh, I understand she’s the main character and all but at least make the plot a little more interesting and NOT another thing added to Bloom’s story. What about movie 3, is it going to reveal ANOTHER thing about Bloom’s story? They just keep adding to Bloom’s story even though they could reveal something about Tecna. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s starting to get a little boring. If season 5 only revolves around Bloom AGAIN, just like season 3 (except season 3 had a subplot) and doesn’t have a subplot around the usually ignored characters (Tecna, Musa, Layla) I’m done with Winx Club. But I think Layla should have a bigger role since it’s underwater and Layla’s powers are based on water. I heard a rumor that we’re going to learn more about Tecna and Musa in season 6. I’ll hope at the bottom of my heart that it’s true. PLEASE.
Hey, I have to agree with you! 🙂 I hope that I can find out more about Musa, as I was quite curious with one of the episodes in Season 3, where Musa appears with her mom. I find that Musa, Tecna and Flora are the most “pitiful” ones in the Winx Club when they didn’t really elaborate in their pasts. I hope that Nick can do a better job. In Season 4, I felt kind of uneasy seeing them focusing on Roxy, thinking her as another Bloom, but luckily, in Season 5, rumours are she is not in the Winx Club, which is kind of fair. 😀
It was interesting, Brandeline, seeing the background of Musa’s parents. Would that not be interesting regarding Tecna? We know more about newbie Roxy than we do about our favorite technological Season 1 fairy. We are okay with Roxy not being in season 5 in a significant way.
PS – thewinxclubtimes.blogspot.com is looking pretty. Nice background.
A fine fairy…with no past?
Excellent comment Musa4ever. We agree with too many of your points to mention. Straffi needs to keep the whole ensemble strong. If only Bloom is fully fleshed out, the show will become more one dimensional and weak. If the show producers are prepared to give up on veteran Winx Club fans and just start anew with kids, they can do another season like 4. We definitely understand your sentiment in that regard.
So true about the bland, dulling of the girls’ personalities in season 4. What a waste.
If the whole group had been thoroughly explored already, perhaps people would have been more amenable to so much time spent on newcomer Roxy. We think a look at Tecna’s homeworld would be fascinating to experience. (Please Straffi, do it justice.)
Flora and Tecna are my favourite characters and I no barely anything about them! I like how in season 5 we are finding out heaps about Layla/Aisha and I loved Tecna getting turned into a robot!
But what’s with it nearly always being Layla, Stella and Bloom going underwater? I want to see Flora, Tecna and Musa all go down together!
Anyway I love this movie! It is girly but I can make an exeption on that part. I still would like it if the next movie was about someone new, that would be good!
It was a little too girly, but the art direction was strong and the battles well done. It is nice that they let Oritel kick some butt too, like an original Company of Light member should.
To be fair, the parents looked positively ridiculous. Also, it is odd to see that three ( above average to be fair ) witches are capable of defeating them without too much effort.
Bloom’s fairy was supposed to be stronger then faragonda correct ( head of the group of light )? Then why did she pick up a blade and not say break the evil mind control spell that apparantly holds power over a small army of guards?
Even more so the father. When all ‘ good magic ‘ in the world was gone, and the dark one much stronger he fought with nothing but his blade and managed to take on the trix and the ancient witches single handedly, and now nothing?
I guess after seeing all the fantastic fights between Mr. Fancy wizard or the whole ” This blade commands all the postive magic of a full dimension! ” It seems like a let down.
Ofcourse the plot needs to continue, but it’s just so predictable. A nice twist would have been the trix’s getting their asses handed to em ^^.
Your comments, Bart, about the contrived nature of the fall of Oritel and Miriam are well founded. We too thought it was a little off, and not fitting the legendary Company of Light. Our impression of that group was that Oritel was its lead. The picture in the old book clearly puts him in front, with Faragonda in the back. This is no slight of her. We liked when she kicked butt against Baltor in that famous season 3 battle.
Faragonda vs Baltor: Boom!
I love everything
I like this movie not sure if I like it more than the previous movie though..
But anyway are you guys at the fortress going to review season 5 part 1?
The sun has set on what the Winx franchise originally was. The “magic” of the first three seasons is apparently not going to be duplicated. Season 4 had potential, but did not end strong.
Season 5 was really a launch for a new generation of Winx fans who do not know the show’s history. For us, the puerile, repetitive plot was (far) beneath what the show once was. We hear okay things about season 6. Perhaps, if Winx resurrects itself as a fun show again, we will renew our interest.