"The Legend of Zelda: The End of Forever"

author(s): James Somerton
Location: NS, Canada

"The Legend of Zelda: The End of Forever"

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Written by: Neil Gaiman

Main Cast

Alex Pettyfer as Young Link
Charlie Hunnam as Adult Link
Alison Lohman as Zelda
Lawrence Makoare as Gannon
Jessica Pare as Navi
Sammo Hung as Lord Jabu
Eric Roberts as The Time Keeper

Tagline: "Time Isn't Always Going To Be There"

Synopsis:

The darkness encircled from left and from right
The sunlight of day with the darkness of night
No ground underneath him, no sky overhead
In Link's mind he knew he must surely be dead

Then, with a thud, he came crashing down
His self hitting hard on the stiff, frozen ground
He cringed and he cried with the pain of his life
For this pain was far worse than of a stone or a knife

And then straight ahead, his eyes saw it looming
a cloaked figure in black. it's presence was dooming
From within itself, it pulled an hour glass
and with this it said how long time would last.

"THREE"

And Link knew what to do, he knew where to go
Just how this is so, we'll never quite no.
So Link left on a run, so fast he could feel
The wind whipping and lashing, skin beginning to peal.

He arrived at the gate of the Lord of the Sea
This realm was as blue as any blue could be
the water rose high without any fountain
and then fell in streams without any mountain

"Who Be There?" called out the lord of the sea
But even at that depth, his face he could see.
And the king knew his face and opened the door
to his watery kingdom on the ocean floor.

And here he told Link of the truth of the land
Link had been taken away by time sands
Ten years in the future is where he now dwells
and if he's not careful, they'll soon toll his bell
For Link has been wanted alive or dead
a ten thousand rupee price on his head

The king gave him armor, and the king gave a sword
and told the direction he must head toward.
South-West to the mountain that was once a hill.
Where the demon of fire waits for his kill.

So Link set off from the kingdom of water
and entered a land that was infinitely hotter
A moment not past since passing the gate
Link saw a red demon utterly filled with hate.

Its body was fire but it's heart was of ice
killing, forever, it's compassion and nice.
The fire was scorching, the air thick with rot
and then, suddenly, it wasn't so hot.

The armor the king had given away
Halted the heat and the fiery rays
So Link drew his sword and the battle did start
He lunged and he jabbed at the live, frozen heart.

For when this demon was dead, he'd be able to see
What it was, exactly, he needed to be
to save the princess of the evil king
and return to time of his upbringing.

So the battle continued until such a time
when the demon had toppled and Link saw the sign
he attack the red thing right from the back
and drove his sword in to it's frozen heart sack.

And the demon convulsed and the demon shook wildly.
As the core of it's being exploded not mildly.
It shook the great mountain. It the shook the whole land.
Link knew what was happening, and so he ran.

The mountain collapsed inside of the earth
leaving a hole of outstanding girth.
Link stood on the brink, looking far below.
And he knew this was where he was to go.
But then he saw the figure standing now in red.
And it took out the hourglass and said.

"TWO"

With a great gust of wind, Link fell to the ground
And with a violent shaking, the earth slid around
And the darkness of that great gaping hole
enshrouded Link totally... utterly... whole.

He woke very slowly, then looked this way and that
No matter what, he couldn't tell where he's at.
Then the place lit up like a blue flamed fire
Ahead of him now stood the evil sire.

"Unyielding filth!" Gannon did yell
And then Link couldn't move from where he had fell
Surrounded by darkness, he saw nothing at all
Only a voice could be heard in that great hall.

"ONE"

So the battle began, blades hither and thither
Fire and ice and serpents that slithered
The princess watched from far far away
"Please save me, Link" is all she could say.

The fires raged on, the blades smashed and clashed
Killing the serpent, Link watched as it thrashed.
And then the lord Gannon had lost all his power
And he fled up the way, back to his tower.

Link followed but stopped, for the tower came crumbling
the sounds of it's ruin, sent the world rumbling.
Now Zelda was free and back on the thrown
And the TriForce returned to where it had shown

Now Link was a hero and was free to roam
So he set out on on a journey. A great journey home.

What the Press would say:

Enter a land of fantasy and nightmares; a land where time can shift and fiery demons can have hearts of ice. This is the land in which "The Legend of Zelda: The End of Forever" takes place. This movie takes fantasy to a new level, combining one of the most beloved video games in history seamlessly with the medium of film. Picking up where the last film left off, we see Link twisting and turning through a sandy vortex, his face changing so slightly with every pass. By the time this sequence has ended, we have left the innocent face of Alex Pettyfer behind and now see Link as an adult, with Charlie Hunnam taking over the roll. From here we are taken on a journey to lands made entirely of water. The Zora kingdom is beautifully designed with towers of water that seem to have no end or beginning. We are filled in on what has happened between the two movies by Lord Jabu, king of the Zoras. We are treated to a terrifying back story of how King Gannon has taken control of the entire land and is holding many of it's bravest and smartest minds captive. This nightmarish vision is only a tease to what we will see later on but it is very affective in drawing the viewer back into the world of Zelda quickly. Before we leave the aquatic realm of the Zoras, Link is given a very special suit of armor. At first it doesn't seem all that special, it's only real special quality in the beginning is that it seems to be forged out of mirrors, but we'll soon see why Lord Jabu felt fit to give it away. Once Link has set off for "The Mountain that was Once A Hill" as Lord Jabu calls it, we get to see what has happened to the mythical land that we were introduced to in the first film. Villages are left completely empty, once great temples have been reduced to not much more than a pile of rubble, and countless forests have been burned to a cinder. Link's journey is long but not boring. He is faced by small battles with ghostly auras and wear wolves in the night, and must hide from Gannon's ever present "Royal" guard. He is attacked by the guard at one point but escapes with the help of a wild horse that stays with him and protects him until he has woken up. She gallops off once he's up and moving again though. Link can see the mountain now and when he arrives, the battle is amazing. One of the most jaw-dropping battles I have ever seen on film. The visuals are amazing with the fire demon attacking Link from all angles at once. The climax of the battle makes it nearly impossible for anything to match up. But the final battle hasn't happened yet. The final battle with Gannon's shadow self is amazing. Although it is not on the scale of the previous battle, we are privy to more close-ups that bring us into the battle personally. Gannon's eventual death is perfect, with his own black tower collapsing in on him. The acting in "The Legend of Zelda: The End of Forever" is actually very good. Charlie Hunnam stands out from the rest of the cast as the mute Link. He is head and shoulder above Pettyfer with his facial expressions. It is Hunnam that draws the audience into the film. If he had failed at doing so, the entire movie would have collapsed just like Gannon's tower. He carries the weight of the entire film on his shoulders and never once flinches. Not saying that the rest of the cast isn't amazing. Sammo Hung is outstanding as Lord Jabu. The character is mostly CGI but Hung manages to bring his own emotions out through the computer imagery. I wasn't the only person in the theater who thought that Lord Jabu was a prosthetics creation and not CGI. And I do personally think that Hung may be in line for some award recognition for his amazing performance. The academy does need to recognize the performances of human created CGI characters in the near future. Why not now? And Eric Roberts as the masked Time Keeper, is chillingly creepy. The Time Keeper is the driving force of the plot, keeping the audience informed that time is running out. His constantly changing masks leaves the audience just as disoriented as Link must be when he appears. Robert Zemeckis once again directs "Zelda" with such love and creativity that you can't help but me drawn into it. His use of CGI mixed with actual actors is seamless and his knowledge of Special Effects is crucial to the success of this film. The first "Zelda" movie was a huge box office hit. Can this one take it a step further? Will we see "The Legend of Zelda: The End of Forever" on the ballot at the Academy Awards? Only time will tell, but this is definitely one of the most entertaining movies of the year.

POSSIBLE NOMINATIONS

Best Picture
Best Director - Robert Zemeckis
Best Actor - Charlie Hunnam
Best Supporting Actor - Sammo Hung
All Technical Categories.