‘The League of Legend Keepers: Shadows': A cocktail of 'Indiana Jones', 'Spy Kids' and ‘The Mummy', teaching kids to stand up to bullies
Spoilers ahead for the film 'The League of Legend Keepers: Shadows'
'The League of Legend Keepers: Shadows' just had its premiere and we can already say it most probably will have its second edition coming very soon. By the first look of it, it is basically aimed at children and young teenagers who love adventures and fictional thrills.
The film revolves around the lives of Sophie (Isabella Blake-Thomas) and Edison (Gabe Eggerling) as they go about their lives as freshmen in school. They encounter bullies— Jonny (Jake Brennan) and Danny (Laura Krystine) who try to outsmart the duo, but get served just right for being terrible kids.
The film also has an empowering message for kids to stand up to their bullies and being smart is not thy fault. Since it is a children's movie, it touches upon the insecurities of children that are masked by their spiteful side, which makes them bully other kids with more regular lives.
The crux of this film lies in the hunt to retrieve the pendants to stop the evil Ohanzee from using it to destroy the world. He is a character that runs on the power of shadows that he uses to create chaos and mitigate darkness into the mortal realm. Hence, the title of this film is apt.
'The League of Legend Keepers: Shadows' seems to be influenced by a bunch of other popular '80s, '90s and early 2000s movies namely, 'Indiana Jones', 'The Mummy' and 'Spy Kids'. It has a very 'Indiana Jones' kind of vibe to it as its protagonist, Sophie is seen dressing up as the cult favorite.
The obsession with that "Hat" is uncanny and seems like it is significantly inspired by the franchise. The shadow plays and the rough black tornado sequence looks like a major throwback to 'The Mummy' Franchise.
Even the antagonist Ohanzee looks like Imoeph except with an older body and bad teeth. Alteast the VFX used in the former was somewhat believable. In this film, the big guzzling black mass that is spinning like a tornado is apparently a giant black hole and there are three of them!
It is a lot like 'Spy Kids' but without any high-tech gadgets. The storyline is almost the same with kids leading the mission and being super smart to capture the evil. The core value of the film is that the family always comes first and we seem them all as a team, fighting against the evil Ohanzee -- a phenomenon recurring in all the 'Spy Kids' films.
This film is a cocktail of the aforementioned films as several aspects of these films are represented throughout. But if you're an adult watching this film, it will give you a bad hangover to recover from.
The phenomenon of the Lunar eclipse called the Blood Moon is a spectacle to watch, and it plays a major role in this film. It is like a thread that weaves this whole narrative together as the main event occurs on this very day.
Ironically, it is also a Halloween night and a long battle of good vs evil is taking place on the school campus. As Sophie takes the lead, Edison follows her down the path of life or death and we all know how it ends. Overall, it is a great adventure film for kids and will surely keep them entertained.