Summary
For a family film, Magic Camp is an easy watch with the kids while adults idly note the Disney production taking hold.
Disney+ film Magic Camp was released on the platform on August 14, 2020. This review of the family contains no spoilers.
I’ve finally lost my Disney+ virginity. Despite extensively covering streaming platforms week on week, this is the first time I’ve written about the new platform’s content and I promise they did not pay me for this review — a growing conspiracy about critics that makes me howl every time there’s a Disney release.
Magic Camp follows a group of young teenagers attending a camp that specialises in magic tricks. The appeal of the camp is “development and growth” while learning the usual tricks you’d witness at a birthday party. Of course, as it’s Disney it’s purposefully whimsical as it can be, especially with it involving magic. It’s almost the perfect formula for the entertainment empire.
The Disney film works on the premise that the teenagers are young and hopeful while a returning, older magician is bitter about his career since returning to the camp. Combine them both together and Magic Camp revels in the generation gap — the term “This is not how we used to do things” is coyly thrown to bring a thematic young versus old dynamic.
Magic Camp is unsurprisingly giving the Disney channel vibe and I can only assume some of the cast are part of the roster. There’s a cyclical message of self-belief ingrained in the plot where the lead young character familiarises himself with magic from the standing point of zero belief.
For a family film, Magic Camp is an easy watch with the kids while adults idly watch as the Disney production takes hold. But as a platform filler, a film about kids trying to embark on magic tricks with a grumpy mentor with a heartbroken past is something that keeps the subscription worth going.
