The Wizard

Year releasted: 1989

by Nathan Rabin
July 26th, 2000

Made during a time when Super Mario and his video-game ilk seemed poised for multimedia stardom, 1989's The Wizard stars Nintendo as a video-game dynamo with the magical ability to heal a troubled family. Squealing, chipmunk-cheeked cherub Fred Savage co-stars as a working-class kid concerned about half-brother Luke Edwards, a deeply traumatized boy rendered nearly catatonic by the inferior graphics of the Sega Entertainment System. Older brother Christian Slater thinks the whole gang just needs to head over to Dairy Queen, but Savage and Edwards instead sneak a ride on a Wonder Bread truck heading west. After encountering hardboiled Double Dragon expert Jenny Lewis at a truck stop, the pint-sized duo turns into a video-game-hustling trio intent on making it to California, home of the Nintendo Championship. Reasoning that no one would dare institutionalize a boy whose skill at Ninja Gaiden is unparalleled, Lewis and Savage decide Edwards must display his mastery of all things 8-bit at the nation's premier video-game competition. But even Edwards' fondness for Nintendo Power magazine--within which, the film helpfully notes, one can find awesome codes, tricks, and secret strategies--can't fully protect him from a fellow hustler harnessing the incredible power of a rapturously introduced Nintendo Power Glove. Edwards and company eventually make it to the fabled tournament, at which point The Wizard alternates between shilling for Universal Studios and crassly hawking the then-new Super Mario Bros. 3, which figures prominently in its climax. As a shameless feature-length advertisement for Nintendo, The Wizard did its job almost too well, quickly fading into oblivion while its subject's popularity continued unabated.