Seeing the trailer, I imagined a dreamy, whimsical story where I could lose myself in the lost days of my childhood. Director Zach Helm certainly aspires to create something like that, but it doesn't quite work.

This is undoubtedly a kids' movie. Watching this movie with anything else in mind will ruin it for you. It's simple, with a little moral, but it has some great visuals.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is a magical toy store, run by an eccentric old man named Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman). Its manager is Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman) who was a piano prodigy as a child but is too nervous to take it any further. Eric (Zach Mills) is a lonely kid who has trouble making friends (except for Molly and Mr. Magorium). There's also Henry Weston (aka The Mutant) who is hired to take care of the financial business, but he has no imagination and no sense of fun. These are the central characters in the movie. When Mr. Magorium suddenly says he's leaving and is giving Molly the store, Molly doesn't know what to do.

I think Zach Helm wanted to make a whimsy adventure like "Toys," only better. The effects and visuals work...to a point (the potential for magic in Hot Wheels cars only goes so far). There's a lot of color and feeling, but it all leaves something to be desired.

The acting is not spectacular, but the actors do what is called for. The only actor who really sticks out in my mind is Jason Bateman, who displays a wide range of acting ability.

"Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" is a solid effort, but won't go down in history as a classic family movie.