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Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (11th April 2008). |
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The Film
 Oh, look how they created the name 'Magorium' so it could rhyme with 'emporium' and make a cute title. Mahoney even points this out in the movie. Though the title isn't the most inspiring, the movie turns out to be cute and with a nice message. The message is pretty obvious, but the movie is a kids' movie. It also has a lot of pretty colors. A long time ago, Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman) found some shoes he liked in Tuscany. He bought enough pairs to last him a lifetime. Because he's on his last pair, he'll be leaving soon, and wants to leave his store to his manager, Mahoney (Natalie Portman), who can't seem to finish her concerto, and who doesn't think she can run the store herself. The movie also has accountant Henry Weston (Jason Bateman). Since 'The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc', Mr. Hoffman has had a spotty record with is films. In this one, he gives the performance you'd expect him to give for a movie in which his name is 'Mr. Magorium'. Natalie Portman and Jason Bateman give out slightly better performances, if only because they're a bit less silly. In the Wonder Emporium, kids play Duck-Duck-Goose with a real goose and play (if they can) with a 12-foot-in diameter bouncy ball. Paper airplanes fly around and around and stuffed animals are the ones hugging people. This is a magical store filled with wonder and amazement, which is now in danger of closing. Connections to 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' are too strong, so I'll skip that. The plot is extremely thin but the movie s filled with nice visuals. Physically, the outside of and inside of the store are incongruous, to say the least, in terms of space. This, I don't mind, though. The movie deals with loss and belief in oneself. That's basically all there is to the movie. Plot is pretty non-existent and problems arise within characters, as there isn't too many problems outside the characters. It's not too much more than a fluff piece with a slight message inside. I was never really bored while watching it, but I'm not sure how long I'll remember it. Younger kids might enjoy it more than me, but by the same token I might take away from it more than them. It is a movie called 'Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium', after all.
Video
2.35:1 widescreen, using the AVC/MPEG-4 codec. The scenes inside the store just burst with colors, with reds being especially strong. The problem with this is that the contrast for these colors is a bit low and, to my eyes, they seem to bleed a little bit. Shadow detail is also a bit thin, but that doesn't mean the colors are bad. They really pop and the level of detail is pretty high. The print is also free of any imperfections, as is the compression. Grain is never a problem, as well. The transfer is very well done and should please just about everybody.
Audio
There's an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, as well as two Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks (in English and French). The DTS-HD track is pretty spectacular. Its lossless qualities come through very clearly. In the scenes inside the store, there are tons of little engine sounds and laughing kids coming from various speakers. Given that most of the movie takes place pretty much entirely inside the store, the speakers are surprisingly active. Never, though, is the dialogue muffled out or too low. The dialogue is clear and audible, making this a very nice mixing job, perfect for the movie. English and Spanish subtitles are provided.
Extras
There are a few Trailers, 'Eragon' (1:27), 'Ice Age: The Meltdown' (1:27), 'Night at the Museum' (2:32), 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' (2:10) and a Start-up Trailer, 'Nim's Island' (1:28).
Overall
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