I do not expect much when waching a movie produced for the german publicly funded broadcasting service zdf. But this one is actually good. The acting is servicable. The storie is not to unbelievable in the context of a fairy tale movie aimed at kids. The production value is good. The music is good to great (I like the music choice for the wiches especially).
To end this review here are some things i would like to mention expicitly: -Jerry Hoffmans Character Prince Tanka is introduced as Prince from a foeign Kingdom, therefore his skincoulor does not stand out in this medieval european Fairy Tale.
-there is some deliberate overacting with the evil witches, some people might not like that but I do.
-This Movie doesn't attempt to deconstruct morals and social norms of the past acording to current morals and social norms. At least not to much.
-I only watched the german version of this movie, I cant judge any translation that might exist.
-this movie does not have any grand and important message, it's just an enjoyable adventure movie that can we watched with the whole family.