Family Film Reviews

NEW THIS WEEK

-- A MOSTLY UN-AMUSING 3-D SPIN-OFF OF THE OLD TV 'TOON SERIES:

"YOGI BEAR" PG -- The very youngest kids, say ages 3-to-8, may be amused by the slapstick gags in this labored farce. Parents will just have to nap. The film clumsily blends live-action footage, computer animation, and 3-D. The result looks incredibly dark and dreary, with washed-out colors. And when real-life actors share scenes with Yogi and Boo Boo, it never seems the humans and 'toons are in the same space. Stalwart Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanagh), who's in charge of Jellystone Park, is not that impressed that Yogi Bear (voice of Dan Aykroyd) and his sidekick Boo Boo (Justin Timberlake) can talk. What he hates is how Yogi is forever inventing gliders and catapults to help him steal visitors' "pic-uh-nic" baskets. But when the sleazy mayor (Andrew Daly) decides to close Jellystone to make way for developers, Ranger Smith and the bears join forces, along with a pretty nature documentary filmmaker (Anna Faris), who is clearly meant to be Ranger Smith's honey. It is his corruptible second-in-command, Ranger Jones (T.J. Miller), who gums up the works.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The 3-D aspect of the film is not scary, nor is the cartoon-type mayhem. Yogi nearly gets smashed in various ways because of his crazy inventions, but he always recovers quickly. An accidental setting-off of fireworks seems dangerous, but only destroys property. Someone uses the phrase "screwing up," and there is a bit of toilet humor. And finally, why do adults in kids' movies massacre English? It's "lie low," not "lay low." You lay a plate on the table. You lie low when you're hiding out. Sheesh!

-- A DEAFENING BUT DULL 3-D SEQUEL TO THE 1982 SCI-FI CULT HIT ABOUT VIRTUAL REALITY GAMES:

"TRON: LEGACY" PG -- The original "Tron" (PG, 1982) was a pioneering film in its exploration of the new concept of "virtual reality" video and computer games, and its mix of live actors with computer and hand-drawn animation. This update/sequel, which may well delight computer game-loving kids 10 and older, uses all the technological advances, including 3-D, but it's so in love with its visual effects, that the human element feels like a leaden afterthought. And the action sequences, with characters racing one another on the Grid riding virtual power bikes or "lightcycles," are incredibly loud and fast and ultimately not interesting, as the characters are hidden by helmets. Twenty-seven-year-old Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) has lived without his dad Kevin (Jeff Bridges, reprising his 1982 role) since he was a boy. A genius inventor of virtual reality technology, Kevin disappeared into his own computerized "grid." Now, Kevin's old business partner (Bruce Boxleitner, who was also in the first film) tells Sam that his father has tried to contact them. Sam finds a way into his dad's virtual world and tries to bring him back. He must race against "programs" that only look human, and avoid his dad's rogue alter ego, Clu. There are a few clever scenes , but the film is deadly dull.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The script contains rare, very mild profanity, sexual innuendo and implied nudity, all in the artificial-looking virtual world. It also shows characters drinking what could be spirits. The action sequences may upset some kids under 10 with the sheer intensity and loudness. The plot is also a convoluted thing that assumes familiarity with the 1982 film. At least today's kids understand the idea of virtual reality.

-- A QUIRKY ROMANTIC AND FATHER-SON COMEDY THAT DOESN'T QUITE LIVE UP TO ITS CREDITS:

"HOW DO YOU KNOW" PG-13 -- It's tough to imagine anyone much under high-school age loving this smart but occasionally wayward, emotionally distant and overwritten comedy. Yet writer/director James L. Brooks always gives moviegoers something more to chew on than the average Hollywood product. George (Paul Rudd) works at his dad Charles' (Jack Nicholson) Washington, D.C., financial firm. One day, George learns he's to be indicted for fraud and he has no idea why, though perhaps his dad does. Softball player Lisa (Reese Witherspoon) learns she won't make her team again, due to her advanced age (31!). She takes up with Matty (Owen Wilson), a professional baseball player who's a sweet guy, but a total playboy. She also meets George, who falls for her, despite his legal troubles. The big question of the title is: How do you know when you're in love? But it also means knowing when to do the right thing. The film's least satisfying element is Witherspoon's girl jock, who acts unfazed by George's love for far too long.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Witherspoon's Lisa and Wilson's Matty characters have a live-in relationship for a while, preceded by a couple of one-night stands, but sex scenes are only implied. Promiscuity for Matty is a key trait, and there's a reference to "anonymous sex." The script includes occasional strong profanity as well as a condom joke. George's secretary is an unwed mom, and some characters drink.

-- ANGELINA JOLIE PREENS, POSES AND HALF-SMILES HER WAY THROUGH THIS PRETENTIOUS TRIFLE:

"THE TOURIST" PG-13 -- Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp strike few sparks in this overdressed romantic thriller with a nothing plot and a lot of fashion modeling by the actress accessorizing with her smile-of-mystery. Based on a 2005 French film, "The Tourist" seems to be about a glamorous woman named Elise (Jolie) in Europe for a clandestine meeting with her estranged lover. He is, we're told, some sort of financial criminal wanted by Interpol and another, even worse scoundrel (Steven Berkoff) from whom he stole. Elise is being watched by a British agent (Paul Bettany), who thinks she'll lead him to her boyfriend. However, she receives instructions from her lover to get on a train to Venice and latch onto a man of her lover's build and coloring, and pretend to be "with" him. That clueless fellow is Frank (Depp), a shy American teacher on holiday. Frank is of course immediately smitten, as Elise seems to toy with him, until he's unwittingly drawn into her intrigue. Or is he?

THE BOTTOM LINE: The action features relatively bloodless shoot-outs, fights and boat chases in the canals of Venice. The script, such as it is, includes rare strongish profanity and a gently implied sexual situation that turns out to be a dream. Some characters drink and briefly smoke.

-- A GRITTY, REAL-LIFE KITCHEN-SINK/BOXING-RING DRAMA THAT'S FOR 17 AND OLDER:

"THE FIGHTER" R -- Teens 17 and older who like drama straight from America's mean streets may gravitate toward this true-story tale of estranged, then reconciled blue-collar boxing brothers of Lowell, Mass. Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) wants to get his one-time promising welterweight boxing career back on track. His half brother Dicky (Christian Bale in a glassy-eyed performance so over-the-top he sucks the oxygen out of his fellow actors' lungs), now Mickey's trainer, was also an up-and-coming boxer, but veered into a life of crack addiction and petty crime. Then there's the brothers' tough mother (Melissa Leo), with her Greek chorus of tougher daughters. Mom ignores Dicky's addiction and thinks she knows everything about boxing. Poor Mickey is pulled every which way after he falls in love with Charlene (Amy Adams), who tries to get him out of his family's clutches.

THE BOTTOM LINE: "The Fighter" earns its R with portrayal of drug abuse, drinking, smoking, steaming profanity, a lone sexual situation, graphic boxing scenes and some outside-the-ring nonlethal violence.

-- A DAZZLINGLY ACTED HISTORIC DRAMEDY, FINE FOR TEENS:

"THE KING'S SPEECH" R -- Rated R, bizarrely, for a few brief bursts of strong profanity in scenes involving speech therapy, this marvelously acted, richly designed film tells an uplifting fact-based tale, filled with complex characters and vivid atmosphere. It will surprise and inspire those teens who prefer human stories over special effects. Britain's King George VI (Colin Firth) came to the throne after his wayward older brother King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce) abdicated in 1936 to marry his American mistress. "Bertie," as his family called him (he was Queen Elizabeth II's father), never wanted to be a king. He had a terrible stutter, and dreaded public speaking. In the film, his wife, Queen Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), known to us as the late Queen Mother, gets her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). The movie recreates the unlikely and irreverent friendship that grows between the royal and ex-patriot Australian, leading up to George VI's famous 1939 radio address when England went to war with Germany. The therapy scenes between Firth and Rush are sheer bliss.

THE BOTTOM LINE: There are bursts of strong profanity in some of the speech therapy scenes, which help the king-to-be overcome his lifelong stutter. The film has some vaguely implied sexual references, and shows a lot of smoking and some moderate drinking.

-- 0 -- 0 -- 0 --

ALSO PLAYING

-- OK FOR KIDS 6 AND OLDER:

"TANGLED" PG -- A 3-D, animated riff on the Rapunzel fairy tale, "Tangled" is a sure bet for kids 6 and older -- funny in both dialogue and physical humor, beautifully made, and with inspired musical comedy bits. The talk bristles with modern slang, yet somehow works in the medieval setting. A sorceress (voice of Donna Murphy) steals the baby princess Rapunzel from the castle and locks the child in a tower. Rapunzel grows up thinking the sorceress is her overprotective mother. The king and queen still hope to find their missing child. Rapunzel's ever-growing (600 feet) magical blond tresses keep the sorceress looking young. When Rapunzel nears 18 (now voiced by Mandy Moore), her "mother" is away one day and Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi), a thief on the run, scales the tower to hide out, having just stolen a crown from the palace. Aided by her pet chameleon Pascal (adorable), Rapunzel bops Flynn on the head with a skillet. So they "meet cute." Flynn takes Rapunzel into the real world, then realizes he must save her from her "mother." Maximus, a riderless royal horse, is still on Flynn's trail for the theft, and they have a comically adversarial relationship.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Besides the head-banging with the skillet, there is a scene in which Rapunzel and Flynn nearly drown, but most of the action sequences are not scary and played for comedy. The 3-D effects are muted and not likely to overwhelm kids 6 and older.

-- OK FOR KIDS 10 AND OLDER:

"THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER" PG -- As this third film based on C.S. Lewis' beloved "Narnia" books begins, World War II rages over England. However, the only violence takes place in Narnia, and it is fantastical and not graphic, so the film is fine for kids 10 and older. (It might be thematically confusing for under-10s.) Only the two younger Pevensie siblings, Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes), return to the magical land of Narnia in this 3-D installment. Though the (bloodless) battle sequences are poorly rendered, the characterizations have deepened, and the spiritual themes focus more clearly on faith and purity of heart. It's 1943, and the younger Pevensies are visiting their cranky cousin Eustace (Will Poulter). In their bedroom, the painting of a ship on the ocean comes to life and floods the room, leaving Lucy, Edmund and Eustace flailing in the high seas of Narnia. King Caspian (Ben Barnes), sailing on the Dawn Treader, rescues them. He's on a mission to find seven abducted Narnian lords and the magical swords given them by Narnia's spiritual ruler, the lion Aslan (voice of Liam Neeson). The swashbuckling rat Reepicheep (Simon Pegg) forms a bond with Eustace, and they all encounter an evil green mist, which conjures their worst fears.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The battle scenes show the Narnians and their enemies wielding swords, crossbows and fists, but with no injuries shown. The Dawn Treader encounters giant, scary sea serpents and huge waves. The script includes references to "slave traders" in Narnia, who are portrayed in stereotypically Arab or Persian garb of yore.

"HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS -- PART 1" PG-13 -- This second-to-last installment deserves a stronger rating than PG, but less than a PG-13. A "PG-10," if such a thing existed, would be perfect. Most kids 10 and older familiar with the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling's series will be OK at the film (the second half of the finale comes out in July), despite its escalation of foreboding. They'll revel in the visual detail, the strong characterizations and how a great sense of danger now overwhelms all the whimsy. The young stars too often mumble crucial dialogue, but those who know the story will have no trouble. Kids under 10 may quail at the intensity of the attacks on wizards-in-training Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) by the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his shape-shifting Death Eaters. Harry et al. wander in the wilderness, trying to stay safe and destroy the Horcrux, a jewel containing part of Voldemort's soul. Harry's final battle looms ahead.

THE BOTTOM LINE: With SPOILER ALERTS: Tragic deaths of magical creatures and humans (not central characters) occur, as well as several bloody injuries. Voldemort sics his serpent on a Hogwarts professor. We see the serpent's jaws gaping for the kill, but not the actual devouring. Someone nearly drowns, and everyone engages in explosive wand battles. Harry shares a mildly steamy kiss with Ginny Weasley, and he weeps at his parents' grave. The late professor Dumbledore's tomb is opened.

-- A PG-13 NOT FOR MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS:

"BURLESQUE" -- Glitzy, schlocky, kitschy -- "Burlesque" is all that, but it is also fun. The movie's entire premise is too sexualized for middle-schoolers, but high-schoolers and adults will laugh at how easily they can predict dialogue and plot twists, and how brazenly the big production numbers "borrow" from earlier films. Pop diva Christina Aguilera plays Ali, a waitress who leaves a small town for Los Angeles, hoping to dance and sing. She discovers a club called the Burlesque Lounge, run by the formidably sequined Tess (Cher) and her right-hand man Sean (Stanley Tucci). The girls at the club dance sexily and lip-sync to famous songs, but they do not strip or sing. Ali lands a job there as a waitress and meets bartender/would-be composer Jack (Cam Gigandet). They become platonic roommates with lots of sexual tension. Ali proves to Tess she has real talent, and the rest is fake history.

THE BOTTOM LINE: There are several implied overnight trysts between Ali and Jack, but we see only kissing, ever-skimpier clothing, and then the film cuts to the next morning in bed. The dancing is teamily choreographed, but not quite sexually explicit. Characters drink a lot, some smoke, and the script contains midrange profanity and sexual slang.

-- R's:

"I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS" (Limited Release) -- Jim Carrey takes a hefty career leap in this very adult, not-for-under-17s, fact-based tale of love and criminality. He plays real-life Texas con man Steven Russell, who awoke from a bad car accident in the 1980s, decided he was gay, quit his job as a policeman, left his wife (Leslie Mann) and jumped to the other side of the law to support his newly extravagant lifestyle. In prison he meets sweet, naive Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor), and they become lovers. Steven repeatedly and ingeniously finds ways to get out of prison (sneaking out; faking fatal illness) so he can pose as a lawyer in hopes of getting Phillip released. He's baldfaced and clever, but keeps getting caught. The film takes a self-consciously cheeky tone, which dampens its gut impact, but even so, the between-the-lines emotions between Carrey's and McGregor's characters seem genuine and even tragic.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Graphic sex scenes (both hetero- and homosexual) make this film inappropriate for folks younger than college age. The film also depicts prison violence, a prescription drug overdose and drinking. The script includes strong profanity and sexual slang.

"THE WARRIOR'S WAY" -- This oddball blend of Asian martial-arts movie, cowboy flick and European art film is not for those under 17 because of its extreme violence and its strongly implied (though not graphic) rape theme. "The Warrior's Way" is nonsensical, but pretty riveting as a tale of bloody revenge. Yang (Jang Dong Gun), the chief warrior of an Asian fighting clan, is supposed to kill the last of his enemies, but that lone survivor is a mere infant. He won't do it, and escapes with the child to the 19th-century American West, landing in a town whose residents and buildings recall a carnival gone to seed. Yang forms a bond with Lynne (Kate Bosworth), a beautiful tomboy who gets him to teach her knife-throwing. We learn (in a graphic flashback) that her family was murdered and she was severely wounded by a vicious ex-soldier (Danny Huston) and his band of marauders. When the killers return, Yang helps Lynne get her revenge, and the bloodletting begins.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The swordsmanship and Western-style gunplay produce much blood, slit throats, and severed heads and limbs. An infant is shown in jeopardy, and there are a couple of scenes of attempted rape, as well as other sexually charged, though nongraphic, moments. The dialogue includes strong sexual innuendo, but little profanity.

"BLACK SWAN" -- A ballet dancer is steady on her toes, but not in her life in this gripping, stylishly wrought, rather lurid thriller. Not for under-17s, the film includes explicit sexual situations and language. Director Darren Aronofsky ("The Wrestler," R, 2008) and his terrific star Natalie Portman examine the obsessive pursuit of perfection and how it can stunt a person in other aspects of life. Nina (Portman) dances with a major New York City company, but she's not a star. A naive woman-child, she lives a cloistered existence with her controlling mother (Barbara Hershey), a former dancer. Nina's lifelong psychological troubles (including bulimia and a tendency to scratch and cut herself) are triggered when she's cast in "Swan Lake" as both the innocent White Swan and the demonic Black Swan. The arrival of a potential competitor (Mila Kunis), plus her own anxieties, drive Nina to the edge.

THE BOTTOM LINE: "Black Swan" features explicit sexual situations and fantasies, both heterosexual and lesbian. Brief moments of violence and implied self-injury are intense and somewhat bloody, but not highly graphic. Characters drink, use recreational drugs and smoke. The script uses very strong profanity and crude sexual slang.