TMB’s Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium Review

Doug gives his quick review of Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium

Or you can read his review here:

Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium was not the movie I wanted to review this weekend. I had no desire to see it because the trailers have been horrible, and the buzz has been worse. I went by myself to a matinee so I could give my international friends a “heads up”. I must have looked like a ped going into this movie alone; and buying a lone tab energy drink at the concession stand probably did not help my defense.

The movie focuses on Magorium (Dustin Hoffman) the eccentric tinkerer, Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman) the store manager, Henry Weston (Jason Bateman) the accountant and Eric Applebaum (Zach Mills) the lonely kid that plays with toys all the time.

The story follows the Magorium’s transition of store ownership to Molly Mahoney, in order to do this, an accountant is needed and that is where we are introduced to Henry Weston. The sentient store seems to flourish because of Magorium’s presence and when his departure nears, the pouty building begins to act up and the “magic” of the place fades away.

The Good

The store itself was like something that would be run by Pee Wee Herman. It had tons of moving toys, magical books and other mystical phenomena that customers just seemed to accept as normal. As a character in the movie, the store was never explained enough for me to understand the mood swings – but it was neat to see. Kids may enjoy the film for all the eye candy and the film includes life lessons for both young and old.

The Bad

Every five minutes it seems like gears are being shifted into a life lesson or moral. The music slows down and people reveal something to one another that will help them along the game of life. Not only does this get annoying but it is the same life lessons over and over; Don’t give up on your youth, Believe in yourself, The power is in you, Chase your dreams. We are pounded with these sentimental moments and seldom are we entertained. Magorium will start to get ridiculous and then slam out of gear into endearing mode.

The story just always seem to stall, for most of the movie you are just hanging around some people in a toy store as they encourage each other, and deal with their problems. Nothing bothered me greatly, but viewing this film was akin to watching a nice family eat at Denny’s.

Overall

This is a movie that kids may enjoy if they have low expectations or really enjoy it when toys come to life. You should probably wait for this on rental, and see Beowulf this weekend. 4/10

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22 thoughts on “TMB’s Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium Review

  1. Great review Doug,
    I really like how the new TMB is doing so far.
    But can I ask a favor for all us international fans of movies? Could you please slow down a little just so we can understand what you’re saying? You’re really funny, but i had to watch the review twice so I could get it. Between you and John, this blog is amazing.
    Thanks

  2. You guys should try a thing like Epert and Roeper (sp?) do where one person gives the review, and the other person either agrees or disagrees with the other reviewer afterwards…it’d be hilarious to see John and Doug go at it with each other.

    BTW, great video Doug. It was really good.

  3. God gave us water; The Movie Blog gives us Doug Nagy video reviews! Praise the Lord!

    I can’t wait until Doug sees absolute garbage and goes apeshit over it.
    My guess: A 10 second review – “This movie rapes your mind and fucks your manhood; DON’T SEE IT!” I know he’ll come up with better words than I got.

  4. Hey IncliningPizza,

    John said in his last “update”, that they will be recording the Transformers podcast on Sunday night and it should be up for download on this coming Monday. John probably just put the picture up so all he has to do is hyperlink the mp3 to the image.

  5. Good review Doug. You can’t hold back the swearing, eh? LOL. Anyway, I’m going to see Beowulf this weekend (not just for Cloverfield) and not this.

    You and John should do a review together, best of both worlds, the insightful commentary, and Doug’s hilarious comments.

    One other thing, the link to the Transformers commentary doesn’t seem to be working, so I’m listening to the Raiders one all over again.

    Peace,

    IncliningPizza

  6. Great Review Doug.

    I’ve never heard a single word about this movie until I watched your review.
    It looks terrible and was it even given a wide release?
    And why did John make you review it, I feel bad for you.

  7. Doug cool job man. Tell John to move the lamp a little further back – it was too close – you were squinting a bit from the brightness. I love the Gorg tshirt.

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