Go ahead, chuckle.
OK, you don't have to laugh that much. It's not that funny.
OK, seriously, you don't have to "pee, you're laughing so hard." Sit back down and shut up.
Anyway, for those who aren't a 14-year-old girl, like myself, apparently, let me set up the show a bit.
Wizards of Waverly Place is a sitcom centering on the Russo family, who are all wizards, except for the matriarch. You have Alex (Selena Gomez) the feisty, non-dedicated wizard who lacks the book smarts, but has street smarts to boot; Justin (David Henrie) the bookish, perfectionist wizard; Max (Jake T. Austin), the cooky little brother; father Jerry (David DeLuise) and mother Theresa (Maria Canals-Barerra). The show involves the family, their friends and all of the mishaps and hilarity that come from being a wizard and learning how to use your powers.
So, there you have it. Wizard sitcom. Done. That could have been a very easy project for Disney. But, they decided to invest a couple hours more time into and come up with a mythology that makes the movie, which premiered this weekend, so successful.
See, in the Wizards universe, the kids are set up so that only one of them can become a full wizard. That day will come in the form of a competition when they get older. Jerry apparently beat his brother in this same competition when he was younger, but gave up the power to his brother to marry Theresa. So, underneath everything in the serious, all of the madcap hijinks and slapstick, is this very dramatic undertone of "Who will it be?"
It all comes to fruition in the movie, to an extent that I thought, at one point, "OK, so the series is over. What now?" But, it isn't of course. The Russos will continue to run the Waverly Sub Station sandwich shop and Alex will continue to be the cute little smartass that she is. But, the creators and writers always have, in their back pocket, a dramatic wild card that can set some serious events in motion...all you have to do is buy into it and follow along.
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