‘Riddle of Fire’ Review: Weston Razooli’s Wilderness-Set Debut Feels Like Child’s Play, in a Good Way
variety.comPeter Debruge Chief Film Critic Long before she was a movie star, a teenage Nicole Kidman appeared in the early-’80s action comedy “BMX Bandits,” a rowdy Australian kidpic full of bicycle stunts and Scooby-Doo crime-stopping shenanigans.
It’s too early to say whether any of the adorable young leads in “Riddle of Fire” will go on to have successful acting careers.
Still, it’s amusing to think that two decades into the 21st century, writer-director Weston Razooli has taken inspiration from such questionable classics, along with vintage live-action Disney fare — like “Escape from Witch Mountain” and the Herbie movies, which the studio sold in puffy white VHS cases — for his own retro-spirited debut.
Spun from equal parts imagination and nostalgia, “Riddle of Fire” comes as close as any film since “Spy Kids” or “Kisses” to mirroring the kind of cinematic adventures we made in our heads as kids (if you’re reading this and don’t know Lance Daly’s now-15-year-old Irish charmer, seek it out).
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