Secret Magic Control Agency

God, I know, it's a bland title isn't it?

We get a lot of these movies marketed to families with young children and at their worst they're horrendous and at best they're usually just passable.

This one is actually a fair bit better than average. Not a classic but there is something distinctly charming in its characters and its handling as it tries to wring more material from that very old concept of the fairytale pastiche.

So he's a rascal illusionist and she's basically the magic police. Obviously I try not to think of her as a cop but she makes it hard. You know Gina from Paradise PD? Imagine a more grandma-friendly version of that. They make a pretty pleasing odd couple as they are conscripted to work together even though they "Can't stand each other!" (as the trailers were kind enough to point out).

I really liked how they really conveyed a sense of history between these siblings and used their respective skill sets (one is street smart, the other is academic smart) in a complementary fashion.

The plot is nothing too original and their journey often feels like a child's video game in how they simply move from place to place to face a new local challenge like progressive levels but at no point did this feel anything close to as excruciating or dumb as so many others like it. This movie was someone's baby and I can respect hat.