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Family Film Reviews

Jane Horwitz

"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" (PG, 1 hr., 27 min.)

Prehistoric critters still talk modern silliness in this third computer-animated "Ice Age" comedy. The concept has grown funnier with each installment and each time manages without much sermonizing to celebrate diversity and having friends and family from all backgrounds. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" is in 3-D, so kids under 8 may really jump when an angry T. rex charges the motley crew of "Ice Age's" animal heroes. They're still the same, only more so: Manny the mammoth (voice of Ray Romano), his now-pregnant mate Ellie (Queen Latifah), Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo), and Diego the saber-toothed tiger (Denis Leary), along with Ellie's possum foster brothers Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck).

Diego is thinking he should leave their cozy, if unusual, coterie to be a lone hunter again. Manny's feelings are hurt by this. Sid, meanwhile, comes upon three large eggs and, despite several slapstick near-catastrophes, brings them home to nurture. But they hatch into three gleefully toothy baby dinosaurs. Sid, a vegetarian, can barely handle them. (They eat other baby animals, but are forced to vomit them back up, alive.) The dino-babies' real mother, a huge T. rex, arrives, grabbing her young and Sid. The others follow her, hoping to rescue him. They discover a tropical glade full of all kinds of dinosaurs, and are soon pursued by an even larger T. rex than the babies' mother. Running for their lives into an enormous cavern, they meet Buck (Simon Pegg), a swashbuckling Cockney weasel with an eye patch, who has taken on the giant T. rex before. He offers to help. Scampering close behind all this adventure is Scrat, the squirrel-rat, still wordlessly chasing that perfect but elusive acorn. This time, Scrat meets Scratte, a seductive female of his species, who wants that acorn, too. They tangle -- and tango -- dangerously over it.

Besides the T. rexes, kids under 8 may also cringe when a giant flesh-eating plant swallows two of our heroes, though they're quickly saved. There's also a kind of skeleton graveyard that's a bit creepy. The film includes occasional crude humor (Sid trying to milk a male water buffalo), toilet humor, and mild sexual humor (a giant butterfly "coming out" -- of its cocoon; turning "a T. rex into a T. rachel").

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Beyond the Ratings Game: Movie Reviews for various ages

-- OK FOR KIDS 6 AND OLDER:

"Up" PG -- A near-total delight, despite its too-convoluted second half, this wildly imaginative Pixar animated film tells the tale of a little boy, Russell (voice of Jordan Nagai), and an elderly widower, Carl (Edward Asner), who float to South America in a balloon-propelled house and on the way forge a deep friendship. Kids under 6 may fidget or get confused during the film's quieter moments. And there are genuinely scary scenes for under-6s, in which threatening dogs chase Carl and Russell. The villain, a crazed old explorer (Christopher Plummer), goes after them with a dirigible, dart-shooting planes and a shotgun. Scenes showing how Carl met his late wife Ellie when they were kids and a wordless montage about their loving marriage are mini-masterpieces. After Ellie dies, Carl, a retired balloon salesman, clashes with neighbors and is court-ordered to a retirement home. Instead, he rigs his old house with balloons and floats up and away -- only to find Russell, a lumpy neighborhood kid, clinging to the porch. "Up" is preceded by "Partly Cloudy" (G), a charming short about little clouds who make babies, puppies and kittens, and one cloud who makes alligators, sharks and such.

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-- OK FOR KIDS 8 AND OLDER:

"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" PG (NEW) -- Prehistoric critters still talk 21st-century silliness in this third, still funny, installment of the computer-animated "Ice Age" comedies. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" is in 3-D, so kids may really jump when an angry T. rex chases the protagonists, or when a flesh-eating plant briefly swallows a couple of them. The old friends are still here -- Manny the mammoth (voice of Ray Romano), his now-pregnant mate Ellie (Queen Latifah), Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo), and Diego the saber-toothed tiger (Denis Leary), along with Ellie's foster brothers, the possums Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck). Diego thinks he should leave their unusual family to be a lone hunter again. Manny's feelings are hurt by this. Then Sid finds three large eggs and, despite several wildly slapstick near-disasters, brings them home to nurture. Three dinosaur babies hatch from them, and Sid, a vegetarian, can't handle them. (They eat other baby animals, but are forced to vomit them back up, alive.) The dino-babies' real mother arrives, grabs her young and Sid. The others follow to rescue him. They find a tropical glade full of dinosaurs, and are targeted by an even larger T. rex who threatened the dino-babies and their mother, too. In an enormous cavern they meet Buck (Simon Pegg), a swashbuckling Cockney weasel with an eye patch who has taken on the nasty T. rex before and offers to help. Scampering behind all this is still Scrat, the squirrel-rat, wordlessly chasing the perfect acorn. This time, he meets a seductive female of his species, Scratte, and they tangle -- and tango -- over the acorn. Besides the scary T. rex, there's a skeleton graveyard that's a bit creepy. The movie has occasional semi-crude humor, toilet humor and mild sexual humor (about a giant butterfly "coming out" and talk of turning "a T. rex into a T. rachel").

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-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:

"Whatever Works" (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) -- Woody Allen's latest effort amuses, but does not transport, partly because its star's (writer/performer Larry David of "Curb Your Enthusiasm") lack of acting skill mutes the film emotionally. His sarcasm works, but more is required. While OK for most high-schoolers, "Whatever Works" won't engage many of them. Its wit and wisdom are aimed at people who've lived longer. David plays one-time physicist and Nobel Prize also-ran Boris Yellnikoff, a depressive New Yorker who insults everyone -- even kids. He's also tried suicide. Then he meets Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood), an uneducated but sweet, 20-ish Southerner, stranded in Manhattan. She wheedles him into letting her crash at his apartment. No matter how much he derides her ignorance, she develops an affection for Boris that turns matrimonial. Then her horrified mother (Patricia Clarkson) arrives, then her father (Ed Begley Jr.). New York changes them all for the better -- at least in Woody Allen's world. The movie includes midrange profanity, implied sexual trysts, including a menage-a-trois, discussion of sex, a tasteless line about an abortion clinic, a scene that implies drug use, and drinking.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" -- Director Michael Bay puts all the emphasis in this endless, tiresome sequel on battles between the giant, quick-changing robotic warriors -- good Autobots and evil Decepticons. Thus a first-rate cast plays second fiddle to special effects. The plot is incomprehensible except to Transformers superfans and perhaps high-schoolers who like any sci-fi/action hybrids. All others will snooze. In addition to relatively bloodless but intense 'bot battles, the movie contains human warfare and enough crude sexual innuendo to make it iffy for middle-schoolers. The young hero, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), nearly has his skull cut open so Decepticons can probe his brain. There is some profanity, an extended joke about an adult getting high on marijuana brownies, and toilet humor. Sam, who discovered the ancient alien race of Transformers in the first film (which was fun and had a better human-robot balance), is now starting college and hoping his romance with the free-spirited Mikaela (Megan Fox) will survive. But the Decepticons plan to attack Earth and are seeking an artifact Sam may have. The action moves from suburbia to Egypt. Good Autobot Optimus Prime battles evil Megatron while Sam et al. try to stay alive and save Earth.

"My Sister's Keeper" -- What nearly saves this turgid weeper (based on the novel by Jodi Picoult) is its excellent cast. Their unfussy, deeply felt performances cut through all the syrupy montages and confusing flashbacks. High-schoolers and mature middle-schoolers may be very moved by the film, since key characters are young. It is fairly graphic in portraying teenage Kate's (Sofia Vassilieva) leukemia and treatment -- nosebleeds, vomiting, baldness, procedures requiring large needles. The movie includes comic sexual innuendo, a subtly implied sexual situation between two terminally ill teens (cuddling on a bed, bare-backed). An adult has an epileptic seizure. There is profanity and beer-drinking and a street scene with prostitutes. When Sara (Cameron Diaz) learns that Kate is ill as a toddler, she and husband Brian (Jason Patric) have their next child, Anna, genetically engineered so her blood and organs will match Kate's. At 15, Kate needs a kidney and Anna (Abigail Breslin), 11, is expected to give her one. Anna hires a lawyer (Alec Baldwin) to sue for her "medical freedom." There's an upsetting flashback showing Anna at age 4 or 5, screaming as doctors prepare to take some of her blood or bone marrow to help Kate.

"The Proposal" -- This romantic comedy trifle is about as original as corn flakes, but it has a first-rate comic cast and crackling repartee. Teens with a romantic, slightly older sensibility may find it fun. However, it includes a lot of sexual humor that could give parents of middle-schoolers pause, including a sort-of-but-not-really nude scene in which Bullock and co-star Ryan Reynolds accidentally crash into each other, naked. The guffaw moment is so digitally cleansed, the actors could be in body stockings, but the idea is to titillate. There is midrange sexual slang and innuendo, a threat to castrate someone, and a male exotic dancer in a G-string. The script has moderate profanity and a tasteless remark about immigrants. Bullock plays Margaret, hard-driving editor at a New York publishing house, and Reynolds her harried assistant. A Canadian whose visa has run out, Margaret coerces him into becoming engaged to avoid deportation. They travel to his Alaska hometown to meet the folks. It's droll to watch Margaret thaw out there.

"Year One" -- Finding the yucks in the Book of Genesis can be a silly business, but it shouldn't be dull. That's the rub with "Year One." There are amusing passages with co-stars Jack Black and Michael Cera as Bronze Age buddies Zed and Oh, wandering through a sort of early-Old Testament cyclorama, but the film doesn't flow so much as hiccup along. High-schoolers may go to see cult faves Black and Cera, but a passing familiarity with Genesis would help, too. The film is too bawdy for some middle-schoolers. There is strong comic sexual innuendo, including an implied but nonexplicit orgy (in the cursed city of Sodom) and homophobic humor. There is nongraphic violence, midrange profanity, sexual slang, crude sexual gestures, toilet humor, and a protracted discussion of circumcision. There is a theme about sacrificing virgin girls to pagan gods, and characters are sold into slavery. The idea of two guys in ancient times who talk "modern" doesn't seem nearly as cutting-edge or funny as it did in when John Belushi and Bill Murray, or before them Mel Brooks, did it decades ago.

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-- R's:

"Public Enemies" (NEW) -- A handsome, deep-delving film with moments of shattering violence, "Public Enemies" chronicles how bank robber/folk hero John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) finally met his end at the hands (or triggers) of dogged FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) and his team. Along the way, we meet other "freelance" criminals and Chicago mafiosi of the early 1930s. In director Michael Mann's elegant, carefully wrought crime flick, there's only a hairsbreadth of difference between untethered lawmen and criminals. They're all heavily armed tough customers putting innocent people in danger. The ambitious head of the new FBI, J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup), as much as tells Purvis to use fascistic methods in rounding up Dillinger and his cohorts, citing Mussolini's Italy as a model. The cast is uniformly vivid, including Marion Cotillard as coatcheck girl Billie Frechette, Dillinger's love. Depp plays Dillinger close to the chest, with bursts of charm and mayhem. In addition to loud, darkly bloody shootouts, the film contains a nongraphic sexual situation, verbal sexual innuendo, implied nudity, rare profanity, drinking and smoking. OK for high-schoolers.

"The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" -- The dialogue and action crackle to heart-pounding effect in this re-imagining of the 1974 film (also an R) and book by John Godey. Director Tony Scott's frenetic style suits the material to a tee -- a hijacking and hostage-taking (some hostages are killed) on a New York City subway. Scott sharply conjures the terror below ground and the roiling chaos above. High-schoolers who like intelligent thrillers ought to find this one gripping. Denzel Washington is terrific as the subway dispatcher forced to deal via radio with the cunning lead hijacker (John Travolta, doing evil with panache). There are bloody shootings of bad guys and innocents. Children are among the hostages. There are rats in the subway tunnel. The script contains strong profanity, brief crude sexual innuendo and a couple of ethnic slurs.

"The Hangover" -- A frat comedy for grown-ups that will also attract teens, "The Hangover" is very funny, but many parents would find it too crudely sexualized and profane for under-17s. It follows the adventures of three guys (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis) who bachelor-party so hard in Las Vegas that they wake up to discover they've lost the groom (Justin Bartha). In their trashed hotel suite they find a baby, a chicken and Mike Tyson's pet tiger. Then they retrace their steps. The film has very strong profanity, rear-view nudity and toplessness, crude sexual language and innuendo, implied sexual situations, homophobic slurs, gross toilet humor, drug humor, and a poor joke about a grandmother's "Holocaust ring."

(c) 2009, Washington Post Writers Group.

This news arrived on: 07/02/2009

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