Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (Blu-ray + DVD-Video)

 

Picture: A-/C+     Sound: A-/B-     Extras: D/C     Film: C+

 

 

There was a time before the blockbuster syndrome of the 1980s that Hollywood knew how to be ambitious in making a children’s film that was child-friendly without being dumb, gross, dysfunctional, condescending or junky.  As the G and PG films disappeared, disposability took its place.  When Zack Helm’s Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (2007) first arrived in theaters, it did not do well and the reviews were indifferent to unenthusiastic, but to my surprise, this turns out to be one of the most ambitious live action children’s films Hollywood has turned out in years.

 

Dustin Hoffman gives one of his best performances in years as the title character; an eccentric, good man who has been running a very special toy store for over 100 years.  He is older and after all this time, he is ready to leave and go to another world.  Not death or retirement, but another dimension.  His assistant Molly (played by the underrated Natalie Portman at her most charming) is unaware of this, but is the #2 in running the store, but lightyears away from full grasping it.  It is a sanctuary for children and is actually a living, breathing entity.  When Magorium reveals his plans, the store starts to turn on him and goes literally lifeless and gray.

 

There is a young child named Eric (Zack Mills) who loves hats, has no friends and the accountant (Jason Bateman) who has become a workaholic as a parallel to Molly’s own private problems in a subplot that adds more heart and soul to a film that may not always work, but never hits a false note.  That is not easy to do in a big commercial film like this, as Tim Burton’s Charlie & The Chocolate Factory reminds us, but Helm follows his instincts and talents, coming up with some impressive results for a newer director.  Except for a few moments that don’t quite fit and the motif of splitting up the film as if it were a book, which makes it feel more like TV when it should not, this is a big screen experience that delivers more than enough to deserve a better fate than it originally had.

 

 

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 AVC @ 35 MBPS digital High Definition image is one of the most color-advanced and color-rich releases in HD of any kind to date, starting with the clever credits and moving on to amazing success where so many Fantasy films have failed since the 1980s in trying to show a wide range of color.  In addition, depth, detail and richness of the image is a surprise considering all that could have gone wrong with the visual effects.  The anamorphically enhanced low def DVD cannot come close in Video Black, Video Red or performance overall.  The digital effects work better here than in most such films and Director of Photography Roman Osin, A.S.C., delivers breakthrough work here.  The production design is less phony than most such films too.

 

The DTS HD 5.1 MA (Master Audio) Lossless mix has a nice score by Alexandre Desplat and Aaron Zigman that is not as dippy or condescending as most such scores for these kinds of films, then the mix itself has great sonics, character, range and depth, adding up to a soundfield like no other film on the market.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 foreign mixes on the Blu-ray and all such mixes on the DVD-Video are no match at all by comparison.  The combination result adds up to a demo quality Blu-ray that will sell the format with ease.  Don’t be surprised if this is a surprise demo everyone starts to grab.

 

There are sadly no extras on the Blu-ray, despite the fact that it is a 50GB disc (there was no room?) and that you get a few extras on the DVD.  They include Strangely Weird & Weirdly Strange: The Magical World of a Wonder Emporium including An Eccentric Boss & An Awkward Apprentice, To Meet Eric Applebaum, Start By Saying Hi, The Magical Toy Store and Fun On The Set.  You also get five trailers to other Fox children’s titles and an Inside Look at the new CG Horton Hears A Who.  Too bad there is not an audio commentary.

 

 

As chains, discounters and the Internet march on, the mom and pop toy store is being lost.  There were even great toy chins once (Children’s Palace/Child World) that understood the appeal of such places.  The Disney/Pixar Toy Story franchise understands that and so does this film.  Even as uneven as it gets, as far as children’s films that put children first for a change, Helm’s Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium may become a minor-classic just the same and is a family film that does not treat the family or children with demographic distain.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo