The Incredible Genie

Truly uninspiring children's fare from Full Moon. The tag tells us that "Simon struggled to make friends" which is not surprising as Simon is played in a precocious and grimacing style by Matt Koruba (who is currently in the rock band 'Program the Dead'). Tom Fahn (a voice over actor primarily) is fun as the Genie but never has enough wit or charm to raise the film even to entertaining. Simon's mum is Stacie Randall, star of a few Full Moon movies and alongside the majority of the cast she is a little too sophisticated for the weak story. This is the primary disappointment, the script. Michael Davis is an immensely talented writer and director yet here he replaces charm with a misplaced notion that Simon is such a strong character that he can carry the film. Irritating, charmless and moronic in equal measures.

Don't call him Simple Simon! Simon's the smartest one at school and the other children hardly ever converse with him or sit with him at lunch...or anytime.In the same town, a scientist is working on paranormal phenomena, having just returned from an archaeological dig. As fortune may fall, Simon ends up with a lamp the scientist had discovered abroad. Shazam....it's a genie's lamp, yes! Simon finds the sprightly genie inside a pain at first (tricks do not turn out correctly) but warms up to the guy over time. Yet, when Simon's house changes in a noticeable way, things get lively very quickly. Will having a genie be a good thing or the reverse?

This is a fun family film for a Friday night. The boy who plays Simon is a natural actor and the lady that plays his mother charms in a big way. There is magical fun and a romance as well. The genie is an absolute delight in every way, too. The ending was a bit of a disappointment as it defies logic but perhaps kids won't have any quarrels with that. Are you looking for something your family can watch together and everyone will be tickled? You do not need a genie...just take a stroll to the video store or library.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone with kids. The "hero" is a thoroughly unpleasant, arrogant, nasty little know-it-all who deserves every bad thing that happens to him. He steals, assaults a police office, shows thinly concealed contempt for those who love him and a sneering superiority to any authority figure. Peers are fine and grown-ups are easily manipulated dolts. Special effects are good and acting is better than average for a kid film, but what a message! It's so wrongheaded, you'll feel like throwing something at the screen. Read other "positive" review and couldn't believe we saw the same film. Watch this and regret it...I know I did.