Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman), who claims to be more than 240 years old, has operated his magical toy store for more than a century. Knowing his time is coming to an end, he chooses to will the store to his assistant Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman), a brilliant child pianist who lost her gift for music as she grew older.

Mahoney doesn’t want to lose Magorium, nor does she want to take over the store, believing she lacks the magic needed to keep its wonders flowing. (It doesn’t help that the store itself balks at the idea of Magorium’s departure.) But Magorium has faith in her, and with a little help from a workaholic accountant named Henry Weston (Jason Bateman) and an eccentric, friendless little boy named Eric Applebaum (Zach Mills), Mahoney just may be able to find the magic within herself.

CRITIQUE

Reviewing Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is something of a difficult task; anyone old enough to read a review is probably too old to enjoy the movie, and anyone young enough to enjoy the movie is both likely too young to read a review and not concerned whatsoever with anything a so-called critic has to say. This movie is aimed squarely at the six-and-under crowd, who are likely to go along with anything a kiddie-minded filmmaker throws at them, which means they’ll gobble it up and ask for seconds. But for someone like myself, sitting through it ain’t exactly fun.

It’s one thing if a movie looks to be made for a certain audience but actually appeals to all ages (I hate to resort to the obvious and bring up Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but I guess I just did), but a movie so clearly made with a particular segment of the population in mind is another thing entirely. It takes a special type of open-mindedness to wholeheartedly swallow anything a movie offers up, and this movie is intended only for people who possess that quality.

In order for it to work, Mr. Magorium’s requires you to care about characters it gives you no real reason to care about, you have to be enthralled by an outcome that’s obvious fifteen minutes in, and you have to ignore the story’s oddball internal logic. I couldn’t perform any of these takes. The characters are bland, their journey even blander. And try as I might, I just couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that Bateman’s character has no idea he’s been hired to work in a magical toy store. The store’s been in the same location for 130 years; you’d think word of its uniqueness would have gotten out by now, and I’m pretty sure CNN would have Jeanne Moos to do a segment on it.

Writer/director Zach Helm’s script doesn’t really have enough plot to sustain a feature-length movie. This story would be better suited to a twenty-page children’s book, but here Helm (who also wrote the infinitely superior Stranger than Fiction) stretches it to the breaking point. He basically delivers three key scenes during the setup and then simply keeps providing variations on said scenes for the next hour, repeating the same messages over and over.

I suppose the wee ones won’t be bothered by it (just as they won’t be bothered by the rampant product placement or wonder why Helm didn’t feel the need to come up with an ending), but I found it to be overkill. And speaking of overkill, was it really necessary to supply Magorium with Brad Dourif’s eyebrows from Dune, a pronounced lisp, and a series of mannerisms straight out of the Freddie Jones playbook? Call me crazy, but that combination is more likely to evoke rock throwing and insults on the part of kids than it is love and friendship.

THE VIDEO

The 2.35:1/1080p transfer looks fantastic. Helm, cinematographer Roman Osin, and the design team decided to make every frame of the movie as bright and eye-popping as possible, and the video here captures that look perfectly. And although Helm and Osin couldn’t resist the urge to burn up the contrast, colors never bleed and the sense of depth never wavers. Blacks are inky and deep throughout. I’d say this ranks high among Fox’s next-gen efforts.

THE AUDIO

Given the subject matter, the DTS HD 5.1 Master audio is surprisingly restrained. The mix really comes alive whenever the store itself really comes alive (although sometimes surround action isn’t quite as transparent as it could be), but dialogue-heavy scenes collapse into the front channels (and often just the center). Dialogue is always clear and intelligible. Deep bass action is sparse, with the low primarily acting to add weight to the sickly sweet score. English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks are also included. English and Spanish subtitles are available.

THE EXTRAS

The standard-def release of this movie contains a small number of featurettes, but this Blu-ray disc contains no bonus material whatsoever. Go figure.

FINAL THOUGHT