Wizards Of Waverly Place: The Movie (DVD)

Wizards of Waverly Place – The Movie

Please note: This review is on the film only - not the DVD!


When you leave your childhood behind, you are expected to grow up, perhaps watch serious documentaries and news channels – yeah right! With my own daughter as well as my younger brother and sister there is always some sort of childrens programme on the television and I have to admit that secretly I actually enjoy some ...
...Channel and Wizards of Waverly Place – the series – is one of the funniest so called childrens programmes around at the moment. I didn’t actually get into the series until I saw the movie on the day it aired on the Disney Channel mainly as it had been advertised so many times and there was nothing else on so I thought why not?


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WAVERLY PLACE
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Although this review ... more

Wizards of Waverly Place – The Movie

Please note: This review is on the film only - not the DVD!

When you leave your childhood behind, you are expected to grow up, perhaps watch serious documentaries and news channels – yeah right! With my own daughter as well as my younger brother and sister there is always some sort of childrens programme on the television and I have to admit that secretly I actually enjoy some of them, especially some of the films on the Disney Channel and Wizards of Waverly Place – the series – is one of the funniest so called childrens programmes around at the moment. I didn’t actually get into the series until I saw the movie on the day it aired on the Disney Channel mainly as it had been advertised so many times and there was nothing else on so I thought why not?

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WAVERLY PLACE
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Although this review is about the movie and not the series I want to give you a little background on the series which helps understand the movie itself, even though the movie can be watched as a one off. I actually watched the movie before seeing any of the series and loved it, though after watching the series after I found that I liked the movie even more as I knew the characters backgrounds etc.

Wizards of Waverly Place is a relatively new series that originally aired in 2007. was created by Todd J. Greenwald, and stars Selena Gomez, David Henrie and Jake T. Austin, as three siblings with magical abilities. As I write this review, it has just began showing its third series.

The series is about the Russo family, mainly the three sibling wizards; Alex, Justin and Max (Alex being the middle sister – not a boy!). They live with their mother, who is mortal, and father who is a former wizard who lost his powers when he fell in love with a mortal. Their parents are very strict on what the siblings can and can not use their magical abilities for though this certainly does not stop them and often gets them into some hilarious trouble. They also have wizard classes with their father to work towards a magic competition between the siblings which will lead to only one of them keeping their abilities – something Justin works really hard to do.

The show itself has won many awards which include Primetime Emmys 2009 - Outstanding Children's Program (Winner) and many nominations for character performances.

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MOVIE TIME
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The movie of Wizards of Waverly Place is more of a special feature length episode and has the same cast. It premiered not long ago this year on the Disney Channel and follows the family as they go on their family holiday.

The movie starts with the family preparing for their holiday except for Alex who is going to be staying with her friend Harper though through a series of events which includes Alex turning part of the Sub-Station (The family restaurant) into a train and riding through the underground in it to a party she was banned from, Alex finds herself forced to go with the rest of the family on their holiday – something she is not happy about.

Not long after they get to their holiday destination they meet a former wizard Archie and his ‘girlfriend’ Giselle who is actually a parrot (once a human). He tries to enlist the siblings to help him find the Stone of Dreams which can grant any wish or reverse any spell as he wants to change his girlfriend back into a human though many wizards have gone in search of the stone and never returned so Jerry (their dad) forbids them.

And here begins the start of the tale!

Alex, being her usual self, gets into trouble when trying to use a spell on her mother and wishes that her parents had never met and as she is holding the full wizard wand and spell book, her wish is granted...

Now the parents do not know one another, do not know their children and if they never meet the children will never be born and soon fade out of existence. With no option left, Alex and Justin go to find the Stone of Dreams though soon, Max (the youngest) begins to loose his memories and manages to persuade Jerry to go help him find his siblings in which his mum tags along.

I don’t want to spoil the whole film for you so I wont tell you how it all ends but this is a Disney film so everyone already knows how they end! Lets just say that there is a lot more magic, mayhem and fun as the siblings try to restore the world as it was.

The plot is a simple one though it works really well and is great for all the family – I personally really enjoyed it and I’m 27! It is a well thought out plot and runs very smoothly and every moment is enjoyable. I don’t think there was any moment within the film that I found boring. There is also plenty of child friendly action involved and a lot of very funny moments within the storyline.

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CAST
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As already mentioned, the cast is the same as in the series though only the main family with a brief appearance by Harper at the beginning. The family is also supported by a couple of other good actors though as a whole, this film does not have a huge cast and whilst this wouldn’t be good in other films – it works really well in this movie.

The main cast includes;

Selena Gomez as Alex Russo
Selena is perhaps one of the best cast members in the whole film though in saying that I certainly do not mean that the others are weaker – in fact, the whole cast is a very strong one. Selena’s natural acting is not only true to life but her reactions make everything all the more funny to watch. She is very much a strong lead character and works well with every single member of the cast.

David Henrie as Justin Russo
David plays the more serious sibling very well, though not without its equally funny moments which are played extremely well. As a second main actor in the movie, David and Selena work brilliantly together and really bring this film along well.

Jake T. Austin as Max Russo
A real star in the making! Jake plays the mischievous youngest sibling brilliantly and his facial expressions are simply the best!

Maria Canals Barrera as Theresa Russo
Maria, as the others, is really great in this movie though perhaps not the strongest of the cast, yet this is not a bad thing as too many strong actors would perhaps be too much. In saying that, she is certainly not a bad actor and has some really great moments. Her comedy is not as full as the other characters though she helps balance out the cast well.

David DeLuise as Jerry Russo
David is brilliant as Jerry, supporting the rest of the cast well and adapting to his personas really well. His many different sides of character in this movie sees David able to adapt really well and brings another side to the ‘family’ in this movie.

Steve Valentine as Archie
Archie is the only real main character in the film who is not any part of the series. Although I did not really take to him at first, his drab characterisation is fitting and it ends up working well with the rest of the characters though he does not really stand out as much as perhaps he should.

Jennifer Stone as Harper Finkle
Although only in the first part of the movie, I feel that Jennifer needed a mention as one of the main characters as she is a main character in the series itself. As Harper, she actually really annoys me though the actor plays her part well.

The cast really make this movie fun and exciting to watch and as the story line progresses, the cast go from strength to strength. Perhaps it helps that the majority of the cast have worked together on two and a bit seasons before making the film – you can really see their great friendships and working relationships within their characters and acting.

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EFFECTS
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Although it is not a big screen movie, it does have a few great special effects. No, not huge explosions, car crashes and other effects you might know from more adult films, but effects involving magic and green screening. All the effects are child friendly and all look great. There is only one effect which is memorable as not actually being as great and that is an animal/human transformation. Although it is not brilliant, it actually is quite funny to watch so really nothing is lost there.

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SOUNDTRACK
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Although there is not many songs within the movie itself, I wanted to mention the songs that do appear within series and partly in the movie. There is also a CD out of these songs though to be honest, apart from the main theme tune, I dont think it is worth buying as they are songs that most people would probably have already.

The main theme tune is sung by Selena herself and is actually really catchy with a great beat. Selena has a really great voice and it is a tune that even if you havent seen the movie or series, would probably find yourself singing along to easily. Selena also sings a number of other tracks in the movie and series;

1. Selena Gomez - Disappear
2. Selena Gomez - Magical
3. Selena Gomez - Magic
4. Steve Rushton - Strange Magic
5. Honor Society - Magic
6. Mitchel Musso - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
7. KSM - Magic Carpet Ride
8. Meaghan Martin - Magic
9. Drew Seeley - You Can Do Magic
10. Raven-Symoné - Some Call It Magic
11. Aly & AJ - Do You Believe In Magic
12. Selena Gomez - Everything Is Not As It Seems

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FINAL WORD
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Although a lower budget film, it perhaps would have been nice to have a few bigger effects though saying that, it is a great overall movie and the lower budget really doesn’t show. It is appealing to both children and adults (and Im not the only one who enjoyed it!) and is very funny throughout. The comedy is not as quick paced as in the series but please don’t let that put you off. The story line is safe yet works really well and overall, this is a family movie well worth watching.
 

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