The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens

The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens is an interesting little DVD. This little town has a magical secret that key characters know about. Billy Owens has just reached the age of 11 and he winds up purchasing a magic wand. This begins a quest with two friends to save the town, the river, and slay the dragon. He learns about the history of the town, and unearths various magical artifacts along the way. If you have ever seen a Goosebumps show then you know generally what to expect from The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens.

With this DVD being a fantasy based movie I was expecting a lot more violence. The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens keeps it very clean. Well there is the school bully who gets a science experiment in the face (think about someone getting hit in the face with a pie). The special effects in the areas of the magic is well done. The characters dress appropriately, although the temperature may have something to do with that. There are a lot of scenes in the dark, and that is my biggest complaint.

The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens has some good music, and okay narration. At times the narration really helped explain the story, and others it distracted me. The magic in this DVD is called “white magic”, and there are references to Norse mythology.  Loki their god of the underworld is to blame for the dragon.

The screener copy of The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens that Family Friendly Gaming received did not have much in the special features department. I hope the retail product includes some behind the scenes features.

Roddy Piper does a fantastic job in The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens. He really sells the decrepit old man with a magical secret. The menu screens exhibit an intelligent design, and are easy to navigate through. The main story in The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens slowly peels away a secret history that makes the viewer wanting to learn more. I let children of various ages watch this movie, and they were generally engaged. A few were not that interested until near the end.

I love how supportive and helpful the family unit is in The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens. Bad characters are scared off by the good ones. Teamwork is shown as part of the solution, and is needed to vanquish certain foes. The magic element is light in The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens, but still present. I am interested in learning more about this world.
- Mark