Georges Melies once again plays a magician who performs an endless series of sight gags with the assistance of stop action motion and with the foreground superimposed on the background in precisely exact manner to gain a desired effect. The opening human pump trick is probably the best, as the film simply flip-flops between humans and various objects, which then morph into other things. Melies is now over-utilizing the stop action motion to the point of inhibiting further creativity, but the edits are worked to perfection and occur so quickly that one does not tire of the repeated use of the technique until the film is over. *** of 4 stars.
Review of The Magician and the Human Pump
