From the ArcaMax Publishing, Parents Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/parents/s-379560-424197
"The Dark Knight" (PG-13, 2 hrs., 22 min.)
Heath Ledger walks away with "The Dark Knight" as Batman's nemesis,
The Joker. His performance demonstrates what a loss his passing will
be to the art of film acting. Ledger's Joker is insane, evil, scary,
funny, and even pathetic in his psychopathic lack of feeling. He is
also the sort of character that could give younger kids nightmares.
This is not a movie for teens younger than high-school age, let alone
grade-schoolers. Directed and co-written by Christoher Nolan, based on
comic book characters by Bob Kane, "The Dark Knight" oozes post-9/11
paranoia. The Joker describes himself as an agent of chaos, and his
random acts of violence are pure terror. He even broadcasts a video in
which he kills someone, a la actual hostage executions by groups such
as al-Qaeda; the camera cuts away, but still.
It is bizarre that "The Dark Knight" is rated PG-13. While "Batman"
films have always been grimmer than other comic book adaptations, this
one avoids an R rating only by limiting the flow of blood during the
graphic violence. The movie depicts hostage situations with children
in danger, point-blank shootouts and assassinations. The Joker puts a
pencil through someone's head. A character loses half his face in a
fiery explosion and becomes the gruesome Two-Face. There is rare crude
language.
Haunted by his role as a vigilante, Batman, aka Gotham City
billionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), decides to test the metal of
the idealistic new district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart),
thinking he may be able to retire his Bat suit. Enter The Joker, who
starts by robbing banks and is in league with the local mob. Bruce
Wayne's former love, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), is now Dent's
girlfriend. All their conflicting emotions provide fodder for The
Joker to mess with.
"Mamma Mia!" (PG-13, 1 hr., 43 min.)
A buoyant starburst of energy, romance and eye candy, "Mamma Mia!"
should lift teen and adult audiences (especially of the female
persuasion) into a zone of dizzy good humor, even if younger people
(as happened at a preview The Family Filmgoer attended) giggle when
middle-aged characters burst into song. They got over it, eventually.
Based on the hugely successful stage show built around hits of the
1970s (and early '80s) pop group ABBA, "Mamma Mia!" is, to quote
another lyric of yore, simply irresistible. The movie is a very mild
PG-13, but does include drinking, discussion of out-of-wedlock
pregnancy and youthful promiscuity, mild sexual innuendo, rare
semi-crude language, and one briefly bare behind.
Set on a gorgeous Greek Island, circa 1999, "Mamma Mia!" tells the
story of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a young woman about to be married,
who invites to her wedding the three men she knows her mother had
affairs with around the time she was conceived. Sophie's mother Donna
(Meryl Streep, in a bubbly, revelatory star turn), who owns a
struggling hotel on the island, has no idea how her daughter yearns to
know who her father is. Nor do Donna's ex-lovers Bill (Stellan
Skarsgard), Sam (Pierce Brosnan) and Harry (Colin Firth) know why
they've been invited. The rest of the story is a blur of song, dance
and discoveries amid great scenery. The tunes and harmonies of ABBA's
Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (sometimes with Stig Anderson) are
still catchy, perhaps even to teens. As Donna's old pals, Christine
Baranski and Julie Walters have great fun, and Dominic Cooper is a
dishy fiance for Sophie. Director Phyllida Lloyd, who also did the
stage show, keeps "Mamma Mia!" fizzing on film.
Beyond the Ratings Game: Movie Reviews for various
ages
-- OK FOR KIDS 6 AND OLDER:
"WALL-E" G -- This computer-animated robot romance from the
geniuses at Pixar breaks enchanting new ground, artistically,
comically and technically. While the movie is funny and exciting, 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 upset for tots.
"WALL-E" is better for kids 6 and older. Slightly scary bits include
roaring dust storms and fiery spaceship landings. WALL-E is a
trash-compacting robot in Manhattan some 700 years hence. He's squat
and grungy, with binocular "eyes," collects knickknacks, has a
cockroach for a pal and watches an ancient tape of "Hello Dolly!" (G,
1969). One day he finds a living plant. A spaceship lands and offloads
a sleek, white robot, EVE. WALL-E is smitten, but when he shows EVE
his plant, she grabs it and the spaceship scoops her back up. WALL-E
hitches a ride. They fly to a starship where humans now live.
"WALL-E" is preceded by "Presto" (G), a hilarious animated short.
-- BETTER FOR KIDS 8 AND OLDER:
"Meet Dave" PG -- (NEW) -- This science-fiction comedy geared
to grade-schoolers is half-baked conceptually, but an amiable enough
diversion. Eddie Murphy turns his physical comedy skills to playing a
space alien. As part of a race of brainy humanlike creatures who are
minute compared to the "primitive" people of Earth, he captains a
spaceship designed to look like an Earthling, created in his own
image. His mission is to use the humanoid ship to scope out Earth for
energy sources and destruction. Captain and crew operate the arms,
legs and mouth, etc. as the captain's avatar interacts with New
Yorkers. "He" takes the name Dave Ming Chang and befriends a single
mom (Elizabeth Banks) and her little boy (Austyn Lind Myers).
Eventually, the goodness of people changes the captain's mind about
Earth. The movie includes much toilet humor, mild sexual innuendo,
mild gay jokes and some drinking.
"Journey to the Center of the Earth" PG -- When a prehistoric
bug pops out at you in the digital 3-D version of "Journey to the
Center of the Earth," you know it'll be fun, so try to see it in
theaters offering that format. Yes, the movie is wildly simplistic and
a little cheesy, but not a bad amusement park ride in 3-D. It might
even spur some kids to read the Jules Verne sci-fi novel that inspired
it. The language is tame -- one silly joke about a type of rock called
"schist." Kids under 8 may be scared when the characters swoosh
roller-coaster style through a mine shaft, or free-fall down a tunnel
to the Earth's center, or are pursued by a dinosaur, giant piranhas
and man-eating plants. Brendan Fraser plays geology professor Trevor
Anderson, who, like his late brother Max, studies movements of the
Earth's crust. He and his 13-year-old nephew (Josh Hutcherson) study
Max's margin notes in a copy of Verne's novel, then head to Iceland.
Trapped in a cave with their skeptical guide (Anita Briem), they fall
into a realm near the Earth's core.
"Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" G -- Kit Kittredge may be
kind, perky and enterprising -- a model 1930s tween -- but star
Abigail Breslin never lets her become cloying. The movie is
overearnest now and then, but more often atmospheric and fun. Girls 8
and older who love the "American Girl" dolls and novels set at
different times in U.S. history will like it. (There's no reason why
young boys couldn't enjoy it, either.) The script touches gently on
the idea of people losing their homes and jobs in tough times. Kit
befriends a teenage hobo (Max Thieriot) and the little orphan (Willow
Smith) he travels with. Kit follows them around, writes a news 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 find work while her mom
takes in boarders. When money disappears, 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:
"The Dark Knight" (NEW) -- The late Heath Ledger walks away
with "The Dark Knight" as Batman's nemesis, The Joker -- a villain he
plays as insane, evil, scary, funny, and pathetic in his psychopathic
lack of feeling. Some younger kids may have nightmares about this
Joker. Not a movie for teens younger than high-school age, let alone
grade-schoolers, "The Dark Knight" artfully oozes post-9/11 paranoia.
The Joker is a terrorist with no ideology. He even broadcasts a video
in which he kills someone in the manner of al-Qaeda. The camera cuts
away, but still. Troubled by his role as a vigilante, Batman, aka
Gotham City billionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), decides to test
the metal of the new district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).
Bruce Wayne's former love, Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal), is now Dent's
girlfriend. The Joker toys with the three of them. It is bizarre that
"The Dark Knight" is rated PG-13. It avoids an R rating only by
limiting the blood flow during frequently graphic mayhem. The movie
depicts hostage situations with children in danger, point-blank
shootouts and assassinations. The Joker puts a pencil through
someone's head, and a character loses half his face in a fiery
explosion and becomes the gruesome Two-Face. There is rare crude
language.
"Mamma Mia!" (NEW) -- A buoyant starburst of energy, romance
and eye candy, "Mamma Mia!" should lift teen and adult audiences
(especially of the female persuasion) into a zone of dizzy good humor.
Adapted from the hugely successful stage show built around hits of the
1970s (and early '80s) pop group ABBA, "Mamma Mia!" is a very mild
PG-13. Set on a gorgeous Greek Island, circa 1999, it tells the tale
of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a young woman about to be married, who
invites to her wedding the three men she knows her mother had affairs
with around the time she was conceived. Donna (Meryl Streep, in a
bubbly star turn), who owns a struggling little hotel on the island,
has no idea her daughter yearns to know who her father is. Nor do
Donna's ex-lovers Bill (Stellan Skarsgard), Sam (Pierce Brosnan) and
Harry (Colin Firth) know why they've been invited. The rest of the
story is a blur of song, dance, discoveries and great scenery. The
tunes are still catchy, perhaps even to teens. Christine Baranski and
Julie Walters have wicked fun as Donna's old pals, and Dominic Cooper
is a dishy fiance for Sophie. Director Phyllida Lloyd keeps "Mamma
Mia!" fizzing on film. The rating reflects drinking, talk of
out-of-wedlock pregnancy and youthful promiscuity, mild sexual
innuendo, rare semi-crude language, and one briefly bare behind.
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" -- The goblins, elves, ogres and
monsters that populate this extraordinary-looking film often upstage
Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his team at the Bureau for Paranormal
Research and Defense. A blend of computer effects and gorgeous
animatronic puppetry, the visuals are ravishing, but overlay a rather
dreary narrative and heavy-footed action. Yet teens may like the
film's look and Hellboy's tough-with-a-heart-of-gold persona. In this
sequel (to "Hellboy," PG-13, 2004), again written and directed by
Guillermo del Toro, based on Mike Mignola's graphic novels, the
brick-red, horned superhero takes on evil Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) of
a magical underworld realm. Hellboy, with his pyrokinetic love Liz
(Selma Blair), the gilled "aquatic empath" Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) and
the gaseous "protoplasmic mystic" Johann Krauss (voice of Seth
MacFarlane) must stop him. The mayhem and monsters (even the little
tooth fairies that burrow into humans and eat them) make the movie too
intense for preteens. There are impalings, an implied beheading, and
an infant in peril, as well as toilet humor, beer, cigars, mild
profanity and sexual innuendo.
"Hancock" -- Will Smith plays a drunk, slovenly, rude, amnesiac
superhero in "Hancock," a movie with a great premise but dismal
follow-through. Even so, high-schoolers will like Smith's cool turn.
John Hancock (Smith) catches bad guys and saves folks 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. Then he rescues Ray
(Jason Bateman), a public relations man who decides to rehabilitate
Hancock. But Hancock senses an intense past connection with Ray's
wife (Charlize Theron). This angle grows ever more implausible and
derails the film. The movie is an iffy choice for middle-schoolers, as
it is highly profane. It also contains gross-out humor, sexist and
homophobic jokes, mild sexual innuendo, a bank robbery with terrified
hostages wired with explosives, gun battles and perhaps fatal wounds.
"Get Smart" -- 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 -- a bit of a
geek, but 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) names Max Agent 86 and
teams him with the highly competent and (to Max) distractingly pretty
Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway). The film briefly uses Arab stereotypes and
includes comic shootouts, fights, chases and other mild mayhem, rare
profanity, toilet humor, fat jokes and sexual innuendo. There are
rats, too.
-- AN R:
"Wanted" -- The visual effects in this sci-fi thriller (based
on the comic books) are spectacular -- a train hanging off a trestle,
a car plummeting into a gorge, for example. But the film works because
the characters remain vivid through all the mayhem. James McAvoy plays
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 drill to achieve superhuman speed
and shooting skills. Their targets are given to them in a mystical
code. 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.