The young female manager of a magical toy shop (Natalie Portman) is stunned when elderly owner Mr. Magorium tells her that he is going to give her the store and die.  She tries to talk him out of it, but eventually accepts the magic in herself.

CRITIQUE

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is a movie that just never figures out what it is.  It really should be a kids’ movie; at its best, it is a bright, magical, winning tale that will delight kids.  But unfortunately these moments are just too few; too often it is dour and just not much fun, and there isn’t a lot here that will ultimately entertain most children or adults.

The tale is set in the title toy shop, owned by the 243-year-old Mr. Magorium; his employees include Molly Maloney, a struggling classical composer.  The toy stop is magical, with strange things happening all over; Molly thinks Mr. Magorium is behind the magic, and is confused when he tells her he is going to “leave” (aka die) and give her the shop.  Unfortunately, kids will likely be confused either; there is never much logic to this world or Magorium’s leaving it, while despite an ultimate theme of believing in magic, it’s all just rather glum, heavy stuff.

There’s also not much story.  Writer-director Zach Helm (who also wrote Stranger Than Fiction) lines up a bunch of lonely characters, including a little boy with no friends and a stiff accountant (Jason Bateman) who comes to work at the store, but there’s no real conflict to everyone’s simply becoming friends, while Molly’s needing to believe in her own magic is presented in rather heavy-handed fashion.  There’s a lot of cool stuff in the toy store, but most of it just occurs on the edges of the story; too little of it plays a key role in the storyline.

Natalie Portman does an okay job as Molly, better when she is able to have fun in the role, though less-convincing when she is supposed to be doubting herself.  Dustin Hoffman puts on goofy teeth and a lisp for the part, but just seems to be overacting, while there just isn’t much to his character.  By the end, though this is trying to be a Willy Wonka type tale of a magical world, it just falls short, too concerned with dull, serious things to really find the magic in the material.

THE VIDEO

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is presented in widescreen.  If anything, there is too much detail here; a lot of it is lost on the small screen.  The studo again provided only a screener copy, so I cannot fully comment on the video quality.

THE AUDIO

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is presented in English 5.1 Dolby.  Dialogue, music and sound effects come through clear.  There are English, French and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

There are 4 fairly standard, clip-heavy behind-the-scenes Featurettes, totaling 28 minutes, which do give some insight into the construction of the huge toy store set.

Fun on the Set is a 2-minute montage of the actors having fun on the set.

FINAL THOUGHT