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"Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen" (PG-13, 2 hrs., 30 min.)

In July 2007, The Family Filmgoer told readers that the first "Transformers" (PG-13) film, based on TV 'toons, comic books and a 1986 animated film, was great fun, with vivid human characters to offset battles between the giant, quick-changing Autobot robotic warriors and their Decepticon enemies. The Filmgoer noted that director Michael Bay didn't let the movie drown in "techno-trivia." Well, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" makes that mistake in a big way. Bay puts all emphasis on battling 'bots and not nearly enough on people in this sequel. The film is endless and boring, at times resembling an old Hong Kong action flick with badly dubbed English dialogue -- but without the humor. The plot is nearly incomprehensible to anyone other than Transformers superfans. They and other high-schoolers who appreciate this style of sci-fi action may be entertained. Those seeking an actual story will doze off early.

In addition to relatively bloodless but intense 'bot fighting, the movie contains enough crude sexual innuendo -- some of it involving dogs, some with a female Decepticon with a long metallic tongue -- to make it problematic in parents' minds for middle-schoolers. The hero, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), nearly has his skull cut open so Decepticons can probe his brain. There is crude language and some profanity, an extended joke about an adult getting high on marijuana brownies, and toilet humor. There is human warfare with guns, fighter jets and explosions.

Sam, who as a teen in the first film discovered the ancient alien race of Autobots and Decepticons, is now ready for college and hoping his romance with the free-spirited Mikaela (Megan Fox) will survive. But unrest in the 'bot world interrupts Sam's life. The Decepticons plan to attack Earth and destroy the sun. They're also in search of an artifact Sam may have. The action moves from suburbia to Egypt, where the heroic Autobot Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen) battles a revived Megatron (Hugo Weaving) and humans try to stay out of the way.

"My Sister's Keeper" (PG-13, 1hr., 49 min.)

When a reviewer criticizes a film about a family dealing with a child's terminal illness, please know that the reviewer isn't belittling the tragedy itself. "My Sister's Keeper," based on the novel by Jodi Picoult, is a turgid weeper, so overstuffed with emotional montages set to sentimental music and confusing flashbacks and voice-overs that the narrative thread unravels. What saves the movie is its excellent cast. Their unfussy, deeply felt performances mostly work against the sugary elements that director Nick Cassavetes apparently judged essential. High-schoolers and mature middle-schoolers could be very moved by the film because key characters, sisters Anna (Abigail Breslin) and Kate (Sofia Vassilieva), are young, too.

The film is fairly graphic in portraying how Kate has suffered since she was very little from a rare form of leukemia. It depicts severe nosebleeds, vomiting from chemotherapy, baldness and deathly pallor. There are hints of medical procedures with large needles. It shows Anna, Kate's healthy younger sister, screaming on an operating table as a toddler when doctors prepare to use her blood or bone marrow to help Kate. An adult character has an epileptic seizure. The movie includes comic sexual innuendo, a subtly implied sexual situation between two terminally ill teens (we see them cuddling afterwards with bare backs on a bed). There is some profanity, beer-drinking and a brief street scene with prostitutes.

When Sara Fitzgerald (Cameron Diaz, doing her best work) learns her daughter Kate is ill, she and husband Brian (Jason Patric) have another child, genetically engineered so that her blood and organs will match Kate's. That's Anna. When Kate relapses around age 15, Anna, age 11, is expected to give her a kidney. Anna goes to a slick lawyer (Alec Baldwin) and asks him to sue her parents for her medical freedom.

It's not that Brian and Sara -- particularly the single-minded Sara -- don't love their neglected son Jesse (Evan Ellingson), or Anna, but Kate's illness, especially for Sara, has become an obsession.

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 his neighbors and is court-ordered to a retirement home. Instead, he rigs his old house with balloons and floats up, up and away -- only to find Russell, a lumpy neighborhood kid, clinging to the porch. Though the old explorer sics his dogs (wearing hilarious "talking collars") on them, Carl and Russell meet one friendly pooch and a bumptious exotic bird. "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.

"Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" (PG). Bursting with special effects and plot, this lively, but charmless sequel to "Night at the Museum" (PG, 2006) will keep kids 6 and older engaged, if not in stitches. Despite its often deliberately scrambled facts, the film could spark kids' interest in everything from aviation history to art. The littlest ones may briefly cower at a roaring T. rex skeleton, a giant squid, Egyptian warriors with shrieking eagles' heads, the statue from the Lincoln Memorial coming to life or planes zooming around the National Air and Space Museum. Guns, swords and clubs are wielded, but no one gets hurt. Larry (Ben Stiller), the night security guard from the New York museum in the first film, hears that the old exhibits, which came to life only while he was on duty, are being sent to the Smithsonian to be mothballed. He gets a tip that the ancient pharaoh Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria) is wreaking havoc. Larry and a spunky Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) save the day on the National Mall.

-- OK FOR KIDS 8 AND OLDER:

"Imagine That" PG -- Eddie Murphy plays Evan, a high-powered Denver investment whiz and divorced dad who can't relate to his 7-year-old daughter, in this intermittently amusing family comedy. The story has a cobbled-together feel, with long bits about Evan's office life that could make kids super-fidgety. The central premise is clever, but underdeveloped: Evan discovers that his little girl Olivia (Yara Shahidi) and her imaginary friends, whom she conjures while under her beloved "Goo-Gaa" blanket, offer better investment advice for his clients than he does. His rival at work is a slick broker named Johnny Whitefeather (Thomas Haden Church in a borderline offensive role), as a probably fake Native American. There is rare mild profanity, brief toilet humor, a divorce theme (Olivia lives with her mother) and an awkward scene in which Evan sneaks into a little girls' slumber party to grab Olivia's "magic" blanket.

-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (NEW) -- The Filmgoer noted back in 2007 that director Michael Bay didn't let the first "Transformers" film (also PG-13) drown in "techno-trivia." Well, he lets "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" drown big-time. Bay puts all emphasis on battles between the giant, quick-changing robotic warriors -- the good Autobots and the evil Decepticons. The film is endless and boring despite a good cast. The plot is nearly incomprehensible except to Transformers superfans and perhaps high-schoolers who appreciate this kind of sci-fi/action mix. 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 problematic 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 Autobots and Decepticons in the first film, is now starting college and hoping his romance with the free-spirited Mikaela (Megan Fox) will survive. But Decepticons plan to attack Earth. They're also seeking an artifact Sam may have. The action moves from suburbia to Egypt, where good Autobot Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen) battles the evil Megatron (Hugo Weaving) while Sam, Mikaela and others try to stay out of the way and avert the destruction of Earth.

"My Sister's Keeper" (NEW) -- The Family Filmgoer is in no way belittling the tragedy of a terminally ill child when she writes that "My Sister's Keeper," based on the novel by Jodi Picoult, is a turgid weeper. What nearly saves the movie is its excellent cast, whose unfussy, deeply felt performances work against the sugary montages and confusing flashbacks and voice-overs that tangle the narrative thread. High-schoolers and mature middle-schoolers may be very moved by the film because key characters Anna (Abigail Breslin) and Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) are young, too. It is fairly graphic in portraying Kate's leukemia, showing nosebleeds, vomiting from chemotherapy and baldness. There are hints of medical procedures with large needles. A flashback shows Anna screaming as a toddler when doctors prepare to take some of her blood or bone marrow to help Kate. The movie includes comic sexual innuendo, a subtly implied sexual situation between two terminally ill teens (we see them cuddling afterwards with bare backs on a bed). An adult character has an epileptic seizure. There is some profanity, beer-drinking and a scene showing prostitutes on the street. When Sara Fitzgerald (Cameron Diaz, doing her best work) learns her daughter Kate is ill, she and husband Brian (Jason Patric) have another child, Anna, who is genetically engineered so her blood and organs will match Kate's. When Kate relapses around age 15, Anna, age 11 is expected to give her a kidney. Anna goes to a slick lawyer (Alec Baldwin) and asks him to sue her parents for her medical freedom. Her motives are complex. Brian and Sara -- particularly the single-minded Sara have become obsessed with Kate's illness.

"The Proposal" -- This romantic comedy trifle is about as original as corn flakes, but it has the advantage of 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 (which gets a big laugh) in which Bullock and co-star Ryan Reynolds accidentally crash into each other naked. The moment is so digitally cleansed, the actors could be in body stockings, but the intent is to titillate. There is midrange sexual slang and innuendo, including a threat to castrate someone, and a male exotic dancer in a G-string. The script contains moderate profanity and a tasteless remark about immigrants. Bullock plays Margaret, hard-driving editor at a New York publishing house. Reynolds plays her harried assistant, Andrew. As a Canadian whose visa has run out, Margaret faces deportation. She coerces the horrified Andrew into becoming her fiance. They travel to his Alaska hometown to meet his mom (Mary Steenburgen), dad (Craig T. Nelson), and frisky grandmother (Betty White). It's amusing to watch Margaret thaw into a person there.

"Year One" -- Finding the yucks in the Book of Genesis can be broad or silly, but it shouldn't be boring. That's the issue 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. High-schoolers may go for the sake of comic actors Black and Cera, but a passing familiarity with Genesis would also help. 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, as when Cain (David Cross) slays Abel (Paul Rudd) and when a soldier beheads someone. There is midrange profanity, sexual slang, crude sexual gestures, a protracted discussion of circumcision and toilet humor. There is a theme about sacrificing virgin girls to pagan gods, and characters are sold into slavery. Zed (Black) eats the forbidden fruit of Knowledge and accidentally burns down his village. Oh (Cera) joins him in exile. 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 Mel Brooks, did it 30 or 40 years ago.

"Land of the Lost" -- It's packed with clever visual jokes and comedically adept actors, but even so "Land of the Lost" is a bit of a bore. Teenaged Will Ferrell fans may be tickled by it, but only sporadically. Based on the 1970s Saturday-morning TV series, it follows the misadventures of crackpot scientist Rick Marshall (Ferrell) and his invention, which enables "sideways" time travel. The machine transports Rick, a pretty British scholar named Holly (Anna Friel), and a crass, random guy named Will (Danny McBride) into another dimension. They dodge a charging T. rex, and meet a furry young man named Chaka (Jorma Taccone), the lizard-like "Sleestak" Enik (John Boylan) and his enemy The Zarn (Leonard Nimoy). There is much sexual innuendo and gay humor, briefly implied toplessness, toilet humor, midrange profanity, an exploding dinosaur and a giant blood-sucking mosquito. The men sip a hallucinogenic drink. There's too much sexual content for grade-schoolers, and younger kids who don't get that may find the T. rex scary.

-- R's:

"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 original book by John Godey. Director Tony Scott's frenetic, showy style suits the subject matter, for once, to a tee -- a hijacking and taking of hostages (some of whom are shot) on a New York City subway. Scott sharply conjures the terror below ground and the churning chaos above. Denzel Washington is terrific as Walter Garber, a subway

dispatcher in need of redemption, forced to deal via radio with the cunning lead hijacker (John Travolta, doing evil with panache). High-schoolers who like intelligent thrillers ought to find this one gripping. There are bloody shootings of bad buys and innocents. Children are among the hostages. Phobics note: 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: 06/25/2009

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