Les Sorciers de Waverly Place, le film

The Russo family is going on a magic-free vacation. The parents take the wands away from the kids. They encounter street magician Archie who claims to be a wizard. Alex (Selena Gomez) makes a bad wish. Brother and sister have to work together.

I've never seen Wizards of Waverly Place but this popped up on the TV. It seems like a good idea to see a young Selena Gomez in her breakout role. Her character Alex is a snarky self-involved teenager. Her star power is self-evident. The filming is going to Puerto Rico and there is plenty of sand and surf. They do go to some good wilderness. There is a bit of heart as brother and sister reconcile. Steve Valentine is good at being underhanded. It's a Disney TV movie and better than most of them.

I'm surprised that the Walt Disney Studios didn't release this film version of their series The Wizards Of Waverly Place to the big screen first as they did with Hannah Montana. Given the special effects it probably would have been better served on the big screen.

Be that as it may, I think more than the fans of the television series would appreciate this one. When I reviewed the television series I said that the kids reminded me of the Partridge Family offspring. They still do, but in the course of the film the story is more of a Harry Potter type story.

Selena Gomez who's the pretty, but slightly rebellious middle child balks at the restrictions in general placed on her magic by her parents, but even more so when the family goes to the Caribbean for a vacation. With a really powerful wand in her hand, she says something really dumb like she wishes her mother and father had never met. So when David DeLuise and Maria Canals Barrera treat her and brothers David Henrie and Jake T. Austin. Of such wishes are Twilight episodes and It's A Wonderful Life plots spun.

The only thing to do is for the kids to find the Stone Of Dreams which can reverse any spell. But Gomez, Henrie, and Austin have other folks looking for the same Stone to cure their problems.

The cast of the show is an appealing one and the show itself might gain a few viewers with this film. But it really should have gone to the big screen first.

Out of all the recent shows from Disney Channel, "Wizards of Waverly Place" seems to be the one that it's acceptable to like and has the biggest fan-base besides "Hannah Montana". And it's well-deserved, cause "Wizards" it's a funny, entertaining and watchable show. As the popularity increased, the creators decided to give the show a movie, just as "Hannah Montana" and "Lizzie McGuire" were given their movies. But this time, "Wizards" has been given a non-theatrical one. While this movie-adaptation is a cute one, it doesn't surpass the show and neither it's the best Disney Channel flick I've seen.

But let's mention something positive first. Selena Gomez as Alex is the one who carries most of the movie. Besides being incredibly cute and charismatic, this is also perhaps the best acting I've seen from her. When she's leaves "Wizards", she should definitively get out of Disney and aim for more mature roles, cause she has a lot of potential to develop herself to a great actress.

Besides of Alex, the whole Russo family are present in this film, which is nice to see. Jerry (David DeLuise) is just as funny and charismatic as he is in the show, Teresa (Maria Canals-Barrera) is more or less the same character, while Max (Jake T. Austin) is whimsical to an lesser extent. The one who's differs himself from the series is Justin (David Henrie), who shows a more responsible and mature side of himself, which suits the character, although I prefer the goofy and dorky Justin, cause he's usually funnier that way. But he and Alex's has a great sibling chemistry in the film and their relationship are more or less the heart of the story.

Although I don't like saying it, "Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie" somehow suffers from the same problems as "Hannah Montana The Movie"; blending funny characters from a sitcom into a more serious plot. Though "Hannah Montana The Movie" turned the Hannah-concept to all that it wasn't; a sappy melodrama which turned it's back to the show's premises and continuity (Maybe Disney could've hired a director who actually had seen the show?). But while "Hannah Montana The Movie" was more or less absent of humor, "Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie" has some hilarious moments along the road and while it takes the characters to a new place, it doesn't mess with the continuity of the plot as "Hannah" did.

However, Wizards does suffers some other issues; Archie (Steve Valentine) is charismatic, but not a threatening enough as a villain. The movie is cute, but still lacks the spirit and the spunk from the TV show. Although the story is solid, it does struggle with pacing, the slow and fast-pacing moments feels quite separate. Perhaps the movie could've been more energetic and more cohesive paced if it was theatrical released? Well, there has been some rumors about the producers wanting to do a theatrically released sequel. And good is that.

Otherwise, I shan't complain anymore about "Wizards"; It is after all a cute and watchable movie. Fans of the show has already warmly embraced it and those who haven't seen the movie won't probably be disappointed. The story is solid and adventurous, with many nods to both Indiana Jones and Power Rangers. The score by Kenneth Burgomaster is cute and solidly supports the story. The special effects are quite impressive for belonging to a TV movie. And the film has some sweet, tender moments as well.

So to the conclusion; Is "Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie" worth a view? In spite of it's flaws; Ys, absolutely. It is a watchable and okay movie. But a note to Disney; Please stop making movies out of your shows.

Wow, is all I can say about this movie, it was the best DCOM movie I have ever seen, The movie gave a very good family outlook with many scenes showing how the three siblings missed their parents and how they were determined to get their parents to know them. The actors in this are just flat out fantastic, I really like the TV show, but when I watched this, all the actors seemed more geared up and prepared. The chemistry of all the actors really made me like this movie, Selena Gomez once again does a great job, and the scenes in the movie between David Henrie and Selena Gomez were just unbelievable, the way they acted in every scene together was just perfect.

When I first saw the promos for this movie, I was like, oh that sounds cool, but I didn't expect it to be so good. Although the plot was a recycled one that's been used by Disney a lot, the actors breathed a new life to it with all of their amazing performances, and the special effects( although not Hollywood picture perfect) they were amazing for a disneychannel movie.

And the ending scenes of the movie were great, and once the movie was done, I was satisfied,( something that usually doesn't happen when I watch a DCOM)

To be honest, I began watching this movie not expecting much... and I'm a pretty big fan of WOWP the show. I was under the impression that DCOMs were made to suck. I know a rare, rare few has had its' successes, but after trash like Camp Rock, I just do not expect much from these DCOMs anymore.

This movie was delightful to watch. This movie for once, actually had a plot. The scenery was beautiful, and the visual effects were actually not super shabby. I know it wasn't perfect, but definitely decent for a DCOM. The acting was definitely good. Selena was brilliant in this movie, and she outshines any other teen stars currently at Disney. Miley Cyrus can move out of the way for this amazing actress.

This is a movie for kids, teens, families and even older people who don't mind a cute, humorous, sweet adventure movie.

You'll enjoy it.