From the ArcaMax Publishing, Family Film Reviews Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/familyfilms/s-372506-819114
"Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" (G, 1 hr., 40
min.)
Kit Kittredge aims to be a newspaper reporter and is kind, perky,
enterprising and likable -- a model tween of the 1930s. Abigail
Breslin, though she has softened her offbeat charms for the role,
never lets Kit become cloying. The movie gets overearnest now and
then, but is really atmospheric and fun. Girls 8 and older who love
the "American Girl" brand -- the dolls and the books about spunky
10-year-old heroines living at various moments in American history --
will delight in this first theatrical "American Girl" feature. And
there's no reason other than peer pressure why young boys shouldn't
enjoy Kit's adventure either. Director Patricia Rozema makes 1934
Cincinnati feel at once historic and emotionally real.
The script deals in a gentle, straightforward way with the idea of
people losing homes and jobs in tough economic times. A key thread
focuses on "hobos" living in makeshift camps and offering to work for
food. Attitudes of some adults in the film are harsh -- "let them go
hungry" -- and a few of Kit's classmates parrot such views. There are
themes about dads leaving town to seek work and not returning. Kit
risks her safety to catch a thief. There are chases and threats from
bad adults, but no one gets hurt.
Kit befriends a teenage hobo, Will (Max Thieriot), and his little
orphaned traveling companion, Countee (Willow Smith). Kit's mom (Julia
Ormond) gives them food and work. After getting to know Will and
Countee and seeing their camp, Kit writes a story and tries to get a
cranky newspaper editor (Wallace Shawn) to print it. Meanwhile, her
happy life has taken a turn. Her dad (Chris O'Donnell) loses his
business and goes to Chicago in search of work. Her mom takes in
boarders -- a dance teacher (Jane Krakowski), a mother (Glenne Headly)
and son (Zach Mills), a ditsy librarian (Joan Cusack) and a magician
(Stanley Tucci). When money is stolen, Kit and her pals solve the
theft and fight anti-hobo prejudice.
"Hancock" (PG-13, 1 hr., 32 min.)
The ever-watchable Will Smith plays a drunk, slovenly, rude, amnesiac
superhero in "Hancock," a movie with a clever premise but dismal
follow-through. Even so, high-schoolers may like watching Smith's
unpredictable performance. John Hancock (Smith) catches bad guys and
saves folks in peril all over Los Angeles, but his flying is sloppy,
his flat-footed landings tear up the streets and he destroys stuff.
Angelenos can't stand him. Who wants a superhero who sleeps on benches
clutching a bottle of booze and grabbing at passing women's derrieres?
Then he rescues a public relations guy named Ray (Jason Bateman) from
an oncoming freight train. Ray decides to rehabilitate Hancock, making
him serve some jail time he owes the city, teaching him manners and
welcoming him into his home, where Ray's son (Jae Head) loves Hancock
on sight. But there's a catch. Hancock recognizes Ray's wife Mary
(Charlize Theron) and she clearly knows him, but he has no memory of
why. This angle grows ever more implausible and ungainly (even fantasy
flicks need internal logic). The special effects seem as rough and
thrown together as the script.
The movie is highly profane and boozy for a PG-13. There is gross-out
humor, crude, sexist and homophobic language and mild sexual innuendo.
The mayhem features a bank robbery with petrified hostages wired with
explosives (a gratuitous twist), gun battles, possibly fatal bleeding
wounds, and car chases.
Beyond the Ratings Game: Movie Reviews for various
ages
-- OK FOR KIDS 6 AND OLDER:
"WALL(dot)E" G -- This computer-animated robot romance from the
geniuses at Pixar breaks enchanting new ground, artistically,
comically and technically. Yet the mild existential dread inherent in
its central idea -- a trash-covered Earth abandoned by all but robots
-- and the way the narrative slows in the middle could mean occasional
fidgets or upsets for tots. The Family Filmgoer still recommends
"WALL(dot)E" for 6 and older because it is funny and exciting.
Slightly scary bits include roaring dust storms and fiery spaceship
landings. WALL(dot)E is a trash-compacting robot in Manhattan some
700 years hence. He's squat and grungy, with binocular "eyes" and
tractor tread "feet." He collects knickknacks, has a cockroach as a
pal and loves to watch an ancient tape of "Hello Dolly!" (G, 1969).
One day he finds a sprouting plant. A spaceship lands and offloads a
sleek, white robot, EVE. WALL(dot)E is smitten, but when he shows EVE
the plant, she abruptly ingests it and the spaceship scoops her up.
WALL(dot)E hitches a ride as it shoots out to a starship where humans
have lived since leaving Earth. Weightlessness has made them blubbery
and weak, so robots do everything. WALL(dot)E and EVE realize they
must lead a robot uprising to save humanity. WALL(dot)E is preceded by
"Presto" (G), a hilarious animated short about a magician and his
rabbit.
"Kung Fu Panda" PG -- In ancient China, a pudgy panda dreams of
being a Kung Fu fighter in this very funny, artfully animated tale.
"Kung Fu Panda" doesn't rely on easy pop-culture jokes or
double-entendres. It unfolds as a classic hero's journey, with wildly
inventive humor and delicately spun messages about being "your own
hero." Po the panda (voice of Jack Black) lives with his dad, who's a
goose (James Hong), and works in their noodle shop. At the local
palace, Kung Fu master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), a red panda, holds a
contest among the Furious Five -- Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis
(Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David
Cross). The winner will fulfill a prophecy to defeat the evil snow
leopard (Ian McShane). Flinging himself over the palace walls to see
the contest, Po crash-lands into the midst of it. A wise old turtle
(Randall Duk Kim) says Po must be the chosen one. Master Shifu trains
Po in a riotous sequence. The fights are intense but stylized. The
yellow-eyed snow leopard may scare tots. Fine for kids 6 and up and
many younger.
-- BETTER FOR KIDS 8 AND OLDER:
"Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" G (NEW) -- Kit Kittredge may
be kind, perky and enterprising -- a model tween of the 1930s -- but
star Abigail Breslin never lets Kit become cloying. The movie gets
overearnest now and then, but is mostly atmospheric and fun. Girls 8
and older who love the "American Girl" dolls and novels portraying
spunky 10-year-old girls at various points in American history will
delight in this theatrical feature. (There's no reason why young boys
couldn't enjoy Kit's adventures either.) The script touches in a
gentle, straightforward way on people losing their homes and jobs in
tough times and dads leaving town to find work and perhaps not
returning. There is a focus on "hobos" living in camps and offering to
work for food. Kit befriends a teenage hobo, Will (Max Thieriot), and
his little orphan companion, Countee (Willow Smith). Eager to be a
newspaper reporter, Kit follows them around, sees the hobo camp, then
writes a story debunking anti-hobo prejudice and tries to get a cranky
newspaper editor (Wallace Shawn) to print it. Meanwhile, her dad
(Chris O'Donnell) loses his business and goes away to seek work. Her
mom takes in boarders -- a dance teacher (Jane Krakowski), a mother
(Glenne Headly) and son (Zach Mills), a librarian (Joan Cusack) and a
magician (Stanley Tucci). When money is stolen, Kit risks her safety
to catch the thief. There are chases and threats from bad adults, but
no one gets hurt.
-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:
"Hancock" (NEW) -- The ever-watchable Will Smith plays a drunk,
slovenly, rude, amnesiac superhero in "Hancock," a movie with a great
premise but dismal follow-through. Yet high-schoolers may like
watching the star's witty performance. John Hancock (Smith) catches
bad guys and saves folks in peril all over Los Angeles, but his flying
is sloppy, his flat-footed landings tear up the streets and he wrecks
stuff. He also sleeps on benches clutching a bottle of booze and grabs
at women's derrieres. Angelenos can't stand him. Then he rescues a
public relations man named Ray (Jason Bateman) who decides to befriend
and rehabilitate Hancock, but there's a catch. Hancock recognizes
Ray's wife (Charlize Theron) and she clearly knows him, but Hancock
has no memory of why. This angle grows ever more implausible and the
special effects look as thrown together as the story. The movie is
highly profane for a PG-13 and an iffy choice for middle-schoolers. It
has gross-out humor, sexist and homophobic jokes and mild sexual
innuendo, a bank robbery with terrified hostages wired with
explosives, gun battles and perhaps fatal wounds.
"Get Smart" -- Eureka! They've re-imagined the 1960s sitcom and
yet retained its charms -- bad jokes, bad accents and a goofy blend of
slapstick and spy shtick, executed in high deadpan. "Get Smart" will
get laughs from teens who don't know the old show and adults who do.
Steve Carell plays Maxwell Smart as a brighter bulb than Don Adams did
on TV. Carell's Max is a bit of a geek, but also a gifted analyst at
CONTROL, the agency set up to stop KAOS, a cabal bent on world
domination. Max longs to be in the field like macho Agent 23 (Dwayne
Johnson, formerly The Rock). After KAOS attacks CONTROL headquarters,
the Chief (Alan Arkin) dubs Max Agent 86 and teams him with the highly
competent and (to Max) distractingly pretty Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway).
They set off to catch uranium thieves. The film uses Arab stereotypes
in one scene and includes comic shootouts, fights, chases and other
mostly mild mayhem, rare profanity, toilet humor, fat jokes and sexual
innuendo. There are rats, too.
"The Love Guru" -- Mike Myers concocts another dizzy caricature
as a guru who longs to be a bigger deal than author/wise-man Deepak
Chopra. But Myers tarts up his idea (he co-wrote and co-produced) with
endless penis jokes, sexual puns and gross toilet humor. Such gags get
laughs, but don't enrich the film so much as pad the flimsy plot. The
pretty owner (Jessica Alba) of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team
invites the American-born, India-trained Guru Pitka (Myers) to solve
the marital problems of her star player (Romany Malco), whose wife
(Meagan Good) has left him for a goalie (Justin Timberlake) with the
L.A. Kings. It's Guru Pitka's big chance. Flashbacks to Ben Kingsley
as his cross-eyed Indian master are a hoot and there are clever spoofs
of Bollywood musicals. But "The Love Guru" remains frustratingly
incomplete. It is not for middle-schoolers because of its raunchy
humor. It also depicts elephants mating and contains profanity, jokes
about dwarfism, a bar brawl and drinking.
"The Incredible Hulk" -- While not as cool as "Iron Man"
(PG-13), "The Incredible Hulk" is an entertaining ride, with
impressive, deafening, but nongraphic mayhem. This take on the Marvel
Comics anti-hero has the frenetic energy of a good chase flick, but
its dialogue and quiet scenes don't crackle much. It is five years
after scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) was damaged in an
experiment. Now, when angered, he turns into the huge, seething, green
Hulk. He has been living incognito in Brazil, practicing anger
management and avoiding a U.S. general (William Hurt) who wants to
harness his Hulkness for the military. Pursued by Army commandos,
Banner makes his way to Betty (Liv Tyler), his love, who is also the
general's daughter. Middle-schoolers may blanch at the huge hypodermic
needles and gross scenes in which the general's top Hulk hunter (Tim
Roth) undergoes the same experiment and morphs into the reptilian
Abomination. There is semi-crude language, a brief, nonexplicit sexual
situation and smoking. More for high-schoolers.
-- R's:
"Wanted" -- The visual effects in this sci-fi thriller (based
on the comic books) are spectacular -- a train hanging off a trestle,
one car plummeting into a gorge with people inside it, for example.
But the film works because the characters remain vivid through it all.
Director Timur Bekmambetov needed an actor of James McAvoy's skill to
play anxiety-ridden office drone Wesley, who goes from wimp to hero.
The gun-toting Fox (Angelina Jolie, in tattooed, dominant mode)
shanghai's him into the Fraternity, a secret thousand-year-old club of
assassins, led by Sloan (Morgan Freeman). They train themselves to
achieve superhuman speed and shooting skills. Their targets, all
evildoers, are given to them in a code woven by the mystical Loom of
Fate. Wesley believes he's going after his father's killer. "Wanted"
depicts blood-spattering shootings, beatings and target practice with
animal and human corpses, yet it is all just surreal enough to be
watchable. There is an explicit sexual situation, rear-view nudity,
strong profanity and swarming rats. OK for 16 and older.
"The Happening" -- This cautionary thriller about an airborne,
plant-bred toxin that disorients people and causes them to commit
suicide as if in a trance is not writer/director M. Night Shyamalan's
best work ("The Sixth Sense," PG-13, 1999), but its understated
creepiness casts a real spell. That noted, the dialogue can be clunky
and the catastrophes repetitive. Mark Wahlberg plays a science teacher
who, with his wife (Zooey Deschanel), his pal (John Leguizamo), and
his pal's daughter (Ashlyn Sanchez) flees to the countryside. Though a
largely understated R, the movie depicts two graphic gun murders and a
video of a lion tearing off a man's arms. There are strongly implied
but nongraphic hangings and gun suicides, people jumping off
buildings, mild profanity and sexual innuendo. OK for most
high-schoolers.