This Méliès comedy is pretty chaotic, but it has some very good moments, and overall it is fairly amusing. It makes good use of the setting and the props, and it has many details that are creative and/or interesting. The story itself is, as are the stories in a good number of Méliès features, a simple but amusing pretext for displaying an assortment of special effects and visual tricks.
The movie starts with a cook who gets himself in trouble by offending a magician, leading to a series of antics and camera tricks. Most of them work all right, and there are only a handful of them that do not work so well. Overall, it's a good display of camera skill for its time, and a rather typical example of Méliès's style and abilities.
Amongst the special effects showcases that Méliès made, this one is a little better than average (which makes it well above average amongst all movie of its time), and it is worth watching if you have an interest in these very early movies.
