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Family Film Reviews

Jane Horwitz

"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" (PG, 2 hrs., 17 min.)

It may be about the same length as the first film in the series ("The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," PG 2005), but this "Prince Caspian" installment feels longer, slower, darker, less visually striking and less humorous. It is workmanlike, but never quite takes off. The young teen and tween heroes, played by the same actors, are a bit gawkier and less interesting. Yet with those cranky critic's caveats duly noted, plenty of kids 10 and older will dive happily into this new film. However, they'll need to have seen the first movie and/or have read the "Chronicles of Narnia" books by C.S. Lewis, on which the films are based. The new movie assumes a lot of prior knowledge and explains little.

The film opens with an intense, nongraphic childbirth scene. The level of violence in battle scenes also pushes the PG boundary and may scare kids under 10. Fights (and one intense sword duel) are bloodless, but with the strong implication that arrows and swords pierce flesh and gut. There is a charging bear who gets killed and, it's implied, cut open, and there are demonic creatures that briefly tempt and threaten the children. Little ones may jump when trees uproot themselves to join a battle, and when a huge river "god" whooshes over the evil army, Old Testament-style. Once again, director and co-screenwriter Andrew Adamson weaves in the Christian-themed allegory of Lewis' books, but in a subtle, unspoken way that doesn't exclude non-Christians from the entertainment.

Thirteen-hundred years have passed in Narnia. The land is in ruins and occupied by warlike humans called Telmarines, led by the evil Miraz (Sergio Castellitto). Miraz's nephew, Prince Caspian (bland Ben Barnes), is the rightful heir to the throne but Miraz plots to abduct or kill Caspian. Fleeing for his life, Caspian blows a magical horn and the Pevensie kids -- Lucy (Georgie Henley), Peter (William Moseley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Susan (Anna Popplewell) -- who left Narnia as royalty after their first time-bending sojourn there, are whisked back to the magical land from a London Tube station. Just in time, too, because they've been bored in World War II-era England. They befriend the heroic Red Dwarf, Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage), the sword-fighting mouse, Reepicheep (voice of Eddie Izzard), among others, and join forces with Caspian to defeat Miraz. They fight alongside the centaurs, satyrs, minotaurs, talking squirrels, talking badgers and flying creatures of Narnia. The godly lion Aslan (voice of Liam Neeson) is largely absent, though we know he rose from the dead in the first film. Only Lucy trusts he will return.

Beyond the Ratings Game: Movie Reviews for various ages

-- OK FOR KIDS 8 AND OLDER:

"Speed Racer" PG -- Real actors toil inside a neon-colored digital world in "Speed Racer," a complex fusion of live-action and computer-animation that is far less than the sum of its parts. It is too long, weak on story, and weighed down by high-velocity racing sequences that thrill at first, then grow tedious. At least the first-rate cast lends a sense of meaning to this convoluted tale, reimagined by the Wachowski Brothers (who gave us the R-rated "Matrix" trilogy) from a 1967 Japanese comic book and animated TV series. Despite its flaws, many kids 8 and older will be riveted by this story of a closeknit racing family. The young driver of the title, Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch), is haunted by the memory of his older brother Rex (Scott Porter), who died in a racing accident (shown in nongraphic flashbacks). Pops (John Goodman) still builds race cars for Speed to drive, while Mom (Susan Sarandon) and Speed's girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) cheer them on. Speed turns down an offer to drive for a corrupt race-car company and the furious CEO (Roger Allam) sends thugs after him. The film contains a few intense fights for a PG. A man screams when he's forced to put his finger in a tank of piranhas, but we see nothing. There is a little crude language, mild sexual innuendo, beer, and a reference to liquor.

-- MORE FOR 10 AND OLDER:

"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" PG (NEW) -- While it is about the same length as the first film in the series ("The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," PG 2005), this second installment, while still an impressive epic fantasy, feels longer, slower, darker, less visually striking and less humorous than the first. The storybook look of the first film is less in evidence, too. That noted, plenty of kids 10 and older are likely to dive into it happily, but this time they'll really need familiarity with the classic "Chronicles of Narnia" books by C.S. Lewis, on which the films are based. This "Prince Caspian" installment assumes prior knowledge and explains little. As in the first film, the battle scenes (and one intense sword duel) push the PG boundary, with the implication that arrows and swords pierce flesh. Younger kids may be scared by a charging bear that gets killed and by a couple of demons. The film opens with an intense but nongraphic childbirth scene. The four Pevensie kids Lucy (Georgie Henley), Peter (William Moseley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Susan (Anna Popplewell) are back in World War II-era London, but longing for their time-bending Narnia adventures. Thirteen-hundred years have passed in Narnia. It is in ruins and occupied by warlike humans called Telmarines, led by the evil Miraz (Sergio Castellitto). Miraz's nephew, Prince Caspian (bland Ben Barnes), is the rightful heir to the throne but Miraz plots to kill him so his own son can be king. Fleeing for his life, Caspian blows a magical horn and the Pevensie kids, who left Narnia as royalty, are whisked to the magical land from a London Tube station. They befriend the sword-wielding Red Dwarf, Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage), the swashbuckling mouse, Reepicheep (voice of Eddie Izzard), and join forces with Caspian to overthrow Miraz.

-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:

"What Happens in Vegas" -- Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher smirk through this crass, irredeemable farce about polar opposites who cross paths in Las Vegas, get drunk, win a $3 million jackpot and wake up married. Back in New York, they try for an immediate divorce, but there's the question of who gets the money. An eccentric judge (Dennis Miller) requires them to live together for six months to try to make the marriage work. Jack (Kutcher) is a slovenly slacker and Joy (Diaz) is a chic, ambitious trader at the Stock Exchange. They share Jack's filthy flat and drive each other nuts, each trying to trick the other into violating their vows. Can true love be far behind? The film includes midrange profanity, toilet and other crude humor, much sexual innuendo, a drug reference and drinking. Iffy for middle-schoolers.

"Made of Honor" -- The repartee in this mildly amusing, baldly formulaic romantic comedy sparkles now and then, but not enough, and the crass humor inserted to gin up the laughs adds little. It is the tale of a rich, promiscuous cad named Tom (Patrick Dempsey) who realizes he's in love with his longtime platonic best friend Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) after she leaves New York on business and returns engaged to a Scotsman (Kevin McKidd). In hopes of winning her heart before she gives it away, Tom agrees to be the "maid of honor" at her Scottish nuptials. Monaghan is hugely likable, and Dempsey makes the swinish Tom seem almost human. The rating reflects jokes about sex toys, verbal sexual innuendo, implied locker room nudity and penis-size jokes, some profanity, crude language and drinking. Not really for middle-schoolers.

"Son of Rambow" (LIMITED RELEASE) -- Two preteen boys in 1980s England escape unhappy home lives by creating their own video sequel to "First Blood" (R, 1982) in this humorous, unsentimental, visually rich fable. Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) lives with his mom (Jessica Stevenson) in a repressive religious community. Lee Carter (Will Poulter), being raised by his brother, is the school troublemaker. He shows Will a bootleg copy of "First Blood" and it changes Will's life. Already artistic (his drawings and crude animations add a rich touch of whimsy), Will becomes obsessed with making a sequel -- "Son of Rambow." They work happily on it, concocting hilarious stunts, until a French exchange student (Jules Sitruk) butts in. "Son of Rambow" contains some profanity, mild sexual innuendo, teens smoking and kissing, a bad accident, and an unsettling scene when kids throw stones at Lee. OK for teens.

"Iron Man" -- This superhero flick, updated from its Marvel Comics roots, is smartly written, crisply acted and elegantly designed, with gasp-inducing action and dashes of intellectual and moral heft. True, the final battle between robotic warriors is too long and the jihadist villains seem a cheesy choice. Robert Downey Jr. exudes hip and cool as weapons magnate Tony Stark, who is injured and held captive by insurgents in Afghanistan. A fellow captive (Shaun Toub) saves him by inserting a glowing electromagnetic device in his chest to keep shrapnel out of his heart. The two men build a weaponized, robotic suit of armor and Tony escapes in it. Back in Malibu, he announces he will no longer sell weapons and will protect the innocent, dumbfounding his partner (Jeff Bridges). He builds a robotic suit capable of supersonic flight. The violence is thunderous, but nearly bloodless, with shootings, implied torture, images of surgery and the portrayal of Afghan families threatened at gunpoint. The film includes rare profanity, a nongraphic sexual situation, mild sexual innuendo and drinking. OK for teens who can take war scenes.

"Baby Mama" -- Refreshingly off-center, slightly bawdy, and far from perfection, this uneven comedy will still delight many high-schoolers. Tina Fey plays Kate, an executive who is 37, single, and determined to have a baby. Told she can't, she purchases frozen sperm and hires an undereducated surrogate mother, Angie (Amy Poehler). They clash when Kate tries to clean up Angie's diet. With "Saturday Night Live" in their DNAs, Fey and Poehler play off each other expertly, and the supporting cast is great. "Baby Mama" shines when it spoofs class snobbery and gooey ideas about parenthood, but it droops later on when contrived sentiments and cliches take over. There is midrange profanity, some R-ish sexual slang, toilet humor and drinking. A tad raunchy for middle-schoolers.

-- R's:

"Redbelt" -- High-schoolers who like martial-arts sagas that hinge upon questions of honor may find "Redbelt" gripping. But writer/director David Mamet's story is hard to follow and his theatrical-sounding dialogue can seem stilted. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays idealistic martial arts master Mike Terry, who runs a Los Angeles academy. Mike faces a kind of Faustian test after he rescues a movie star (Tim Allen) in a bar fight. The grateful actor offers Mike and his wife (Alice Braga) a chance to earn big money, but things go sour and Mike may have to betray his ideals and fight in a fixed martial-arts competition. The movie includes pounding fight sequences, a suicide victim shown with a gunshot wound, strong profanity, drug references, drinking and smoking. OK for high-schoolers.

"Then She Found Me" (LIMITED RELEASE) -- Helen Hunt stars in and directs this leisurely, bittersweet comedy, based on a novel by Elinor Lipman. April (Hunt), a 39-year-old schoolteacher, longs to be a mother, but her childish husband (Matthew Broderick) walks out. Then her adoptive mother (Lynn Cohen) dies. As April's life seems to implode, a popular TV personality Bernice (Bette Midler) contacts her to say that she is her birth mother and wants to reconnect. Emotionally conflicted, April also finds herself falling for the newly single father (Colin Firth) of a student. The film unfolds clumsily, but Hunt coaxes subtle, engaging performances out of her cast. There is strong language, steamy sexual situations and implied nudity, but nothing especially graphic for the rating. OK for high-schoolers, but may bore them.

"Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" -- The political satire in this semi-obscene frat-house romp has a clever edge, so it's too bad the film limits its audience with such fatiguing lewdness. A sequel to "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" (R, 2004), this film again spoofs and celebrates recreational drug use, and includes explicit sexual situations and language, frontal nudity, homophobic humor, strong profanity, ethnic slurs, and jokes about terrorism and incest. Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn), the former of Korean and the latter of Indian heritage, are arrested and racially profiled on a flight to Amsterdam after stoned-slacker Kumar lights up a bong mistaken for a bomb. A stupid Homeland Security agent (Rob Corddry) has them sent to Guantanamo Bay. They escape and party their way back. SO not for under-17s.

(c) 2008, Washington Post Writers Group.

This news arrived on: 05/15/2008

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