Bu e il castello stregato

It's a heartily funny late sequel to it's predecessor released in 2006. In the beginning the movie gives a strong Harry Potter vibe and it was interesting how they spread out the screen time between the different characters, the ones we begin with are not the main characters for most of the movie.

There were plenty of moments that made me laugh and Christoph Maria Herbst is terrific again as King Julius. The new characters also worked well and the fun factor was definitely present. But this sequel doesn't come close to the charm and inventiveness of the first part, especially as my biggest criticism here is probably Hui Buh himself. What's frightening is that the visual effects look cheaper after so many years and the dubbing often didn't match the mouth movements very well.

Nevertheless, I can't hold all this against the film so drastically and as a children's film and fun entertainment for the slightly younger audience and due to my penchant for nostalgia, the film is still worth seeing.