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Film Title: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

 Best for ages: 7 and up.

Movie Website: Click Here

Year Released: 2007

Rated: PG (US)

SYNOPSIS

   Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium is a magical toy store.  When any child enters the store their imagination comes true and any toy they want to play with or imaginary fantasy they have they will be able to enjoy with the emporium. Mr. Magorium (played by Dustin Hoffman) is the man behind this magical store and each day he and his employees enjoy making all the children that come into the stores dreams come true. However at the age of 243 Mr. Magorium feels the need to step down and retire and would like to leave the store to his trusty assistant Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman).  However Molly is not sure she wants to take over and the store begins to lose it's magic as the characters in the movie begin to lose the magic they once had. Mr. Magorium hires an accountant named Henry Weston (Jason Bateman) to look into the stores worth. He simply refers to Henry as The Mutant. According to Eric (Zach Mills) the little boy who works in the store, the store began to act strange once Henry was hired. Now they all must work together to help bring the magic back to store and prevent Mr. Magorium from retiring.

VIOLENCE/GRAPHIC CONTENT/language

   This film does not have any thing that really needs to be a concern to parents. The most violent thing that really happened in the whole movie was when a little boy in the store stomps on Henry Weston's foot. There are a few things that might seem mildly scary such a a boy who almost gets crushed by a giant dodge ball and Bellini the Bookbuilder is kind of scary looking but that's about it.

   There is no graphic violence in the film at all, however the movie is full of a lot of fantasy and many of the characters in the film live within this fantasy word and do many things that seem very immature for adults to be doing. But that's what makes this film magical after all, but it is something that I felt needed to be pointed out.

   Probably the reason why this film received it's PG rating was because of the way the character talked among themselves in the film.  There is a lot of adult talk in the film, but not in the way of swearing or cursing. This film is clean when it comes to bad language. What I simply mean is their are a lot of life lesson situations about growing up and doing adult like things, such as talking about money and running a business. Which in any case might confuse any young children who are watching this movie. Now don't get me wrong it's a safe movie for children of any age to watch, but I feel that all the adult talk might take away the realism of the magic the film has for any young child.

   I've read many parents comments on this film on other websites and many parents agree with me that it's not a film to take your young children or toddlers to see. Older kids will enjoy the magical aspect the film has to offer, but I agree with all the parents who's comments I've read, it's not a movie that young children will really get into.

OVERALL VIEWS

Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium is a magical film that I'm sure any child over the age of seven will really enjoy. It has the magic of films like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Wizard of Oz and the Harry Potter films. It's not a violent film at all as I mentioned above and it has so many great and magical moments and plenty of great laughs as well. Despite the many bad reviews this film got, I can't disagree more with them. It might not be the best children's fantasy film ever produced but it's a great family film, and I'm sure children will enjoy the magic this movie has to offer.

   The acting in the movie is very good. Dustin Hoffman delivers a great performance as the the wonderful and magical Mr. Magorium. Natalie Portman also gives a wonderful performance as well, as well as the rest of the supporting cast which includes Jason Bateman, Zach Mills and Ted Ludzik.  There is even a cameo appearance by Kermit the Frog in the film as well.  The film has great production value. How the producers of this film were able to get all those toys and use them as part of the sets in this film is beyond me. The toys combined with the visual effects in this film make for one big giant magical movie.

   Overall, as  I stated above I think this film is best suited for children ages seven and older.  It's a movie that any parent can let their children watch and not have to worry about it being violent, however I don't think it's a film that younger children would enjoy. But overall it's one great magical family film that I'm sure any parent and their child would enjoy.

BUY THIS MOVIE.