Family Film Reviews

"Astro Boy" (PG, 1 hr., 33 min.)

"Astro Boy" borrows blatantly from many sources, and it takes a long time to get up to speed, but once it does, it is great fun. However, the level of mayhem and a theme of parental rejection that run through this computer-animated science-fiction fable (based on a 1951 Japanese manga comic by Osamu Tezuka that begot several TV 'toon series) make it more appropriate for children 8 and older. The animated feature bristles with political allusions that only adults will get, but humor, action and vivid characters will carry kids along anyway.

Young Toby (voice of Freddie Highmore) lives a privileged life among the lucky humans who have escaped to futuristic Metro City, which floats above a trash-filled Earth (shades of "WALL-E,"G, 2008). Toby's father, Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage), is a brilliant scientist who works for General Stone (Donald Sutherland) but doesn't see what a warmonger Stone is. (Stone's character, by the way, seems deliberately to reference former President George W. Bush -- not that younger kids will notice.)

When a weaponized robot goes out of control and kills Toby in the lab (this happens very early), his father, heartbroken, creates a robotic boy (with deliberate visual references to "Pinocchio" and "Frankenstein") programmed with all of Toby's memories and personality. At first the robotic Toby doesn't understand he is no longer human. Then his father, uncomfortable with what he's done, rejects the robot boy. General Stone, seeing that Toby has been outfitted with advanced weaponry and rocket propulsion, sends his military to destroy him. Toby crashes onto Earth, where he's befriended by a group of orphans (shades of "Oliver Twist") led by Cora (Kristen Bell) and a lone adult, Ham Egg (Nathan Lane as a kind of Fagin), who only seems benign.

Toby is also recruited by a group of comically inept rebel robots who are trying to start a revolution to end robot slavery. They have pictures of Lenin and Trotsky on the walls of their lair -- very droll for adults. After Toby revives a rusty old killer 'bot named ZOG, Ham Egg realizes Toby's a robot and forces him to fight other killer 'bots, gladiator style. General Stone gets word of Toby's -- now Astro Boy -- power and sends his forces to engage him and his new friends. The fighting includes gunfire and much mechanical destruction.

"Astro Boy" brims with smart stuff parents can use for enrichment later. In addition to the film and literary references, for example, Toby/Astro Boy studies the scientific drawings of Leonardo da Vinci and constructs models of the Renaissance artist's designs for flying machines.

Beyond the Ratings Game: Movie Reviews for various ages

-- OK FOR MOST KIDS 6 AND OLDER:

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" PG -- Deliriously funny and inventive, this animated comedy (loosely based on the children's book) in 3-D will tickle kids 6 and older. In fact, the hilarity will delight all ages. A few things could scare the littlest ones: There is a dangerous spaghetti tornado, an avalanche of leftovers, and a dangerous midair struggle with an out-of-control food-flinging machine. There is mild toilet humor and one character swells up after eating peanuts, but is OK. In a dreary little island town off the Atlantic Coast, inventor Flint Lockwood (voice of Bill Hader) creates a machine that converts water into food. Only he can't control it. It blasts into the sky and rains cheeseburgers, steaks, ice cream and more onto the town. The mayor senses a tourism bonanza. A perky TV weather reporter, Sam Sparks (Anna Faris), covers the story. Flint and Sam may be kindred spirits, but first the pasta twister hits and they must stop his machine!

-- OK FOR MOST KIDS 8 AND OLDER:

"Astro Boy" PG (NEW) -- "Astro Boy" takes a while to get up to speed, but once it does, it is great fun and full of film and literary references parents can expand upon later. However, the level of mayhem and a theme of parental rejection that run through this computer-animated science-fiction fable (based on a 1951 Japanese manga comic that begot several TV 'toon series) make it more appropriate for children 8 and older. The film bristles with political allusions only adults will get, but humor, action and vivid characters will carry kids along. Young Toby (voice of Freddie Highmore) lives among the lucky humans who have escaped a trash-filled Earth (shades of "WALL-E,"G, 2008) to futuristic Metro City, floating above the planet. Toby's father, Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage), is a scientist who works for the warmonger General Stone (Donald Sutherland). When a weaponized robot goes out of control and kills Toby early on, a brokenhearted Tenma creates a robotic Toby (echoes of "Pinocchio" and "Frankenstein"), programmed with his son's DNA, but then Tenma rejects the artificial "boy." General Stone, seeing that the robotic Toby has been outfitted with advanced weaponry, sends his military to destroy him. Toby crashes onto Earth, where he's befriended by orphans (shades of "Oliver Twist") and a lone adult, Ham Egg (Nathan Lane as a kind of Fagin). Toby revives a rusty old warrior 'bot and fights other robots, gladiator style. General Stone gets word of Toby's -- now Astro Boy -- power and sends forces after him and his new friends. The fighting includes gunfire and much mechanical destruction.

-- OK FOR MANY KIDS 10 AND OLDER:

"Where the Wild Things Are" PG -- Some parents may decide that this inventive, moody adaptation of Maurice Sendak's beloved 1963 picture book is too emotional and intense to be a family film. But they'll be surprised at how much kids 10 and older (and some younger) will understand and enjoy director Spike Jonze's unique take. He has vastly expanded upon the little boy Max's encounter with the Wild Things, and because he mixes live action with puppetry and animation, Jonze achieves a level of realism that other stories delving into kids' darker emotions do not. As played by the extraordinary Max Records, young Max seems very real, as are his tantrums and unhappiness. All his traits and troubles are echoed ingeniously among the furry Wild Things he befriends when he enters an imaginary world after a fight with his mom. He bites her and after she says he's "out of control," he runs off. Realism becomes fantasy as Max sails through a storm and lands on an island where he meets the Wild Things. The monsters decide not to eat him, and instead make him their king. What starts as a bumptious friendship between boy and creatures degenerates into disputes and sadness, yet the story ends on a cheerier note before Max returns to reality and his mom. This film is not for kids who have short attention spans, who find strong, realistically portrayed emotions hard to deal with, or who could be scared into nightmares by the idea of stuffed animals becoming enormous monsters in an alternate world. The Wild Things fight and hurt one another at times (not lethally, but a feathered arm gets pulled bloodlessly off), and say mean things.

-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:

"Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" (NEW) -- A small-town teen becomes a "half-vampire" and goes to live with members of a traveling freak show in this humorous, offbeat and inventive fable. It takes the idea of feeling like a "freak" during tricky teenage years and runs with it in a smart, colorful way, reminding us, "It's not what you are. It's who you are." Honor student Darren Shan (also the name of the author on whose books the film is based) and his rebellious friend Steve (Josh Hutcherson), bored with their conformist town, see a flyer for the "Cirque du Freak" and go. The bearded lady (Salma Hayek), snake boy (Patrick Fugit) and other oddities are great, but it is Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) and his trained spider who fascinate them. Steve, a student of vampires, recognizes Crepsley as one. Darren steals the spider, which bites Steve. Darren begs Crepsley to give Steve the antidote, but in return Crepsley demands that Darren must "die" and become his "half-vampire" assistant (he can still go out in daylight). Darren goes to live with the freaks. Meanwhile, a perverse vampire fancier (Michael Cerveris) plots to foment war between Crepsley's faction (they drink human blood, but without committing murder) and a more vicious group. The film includes mayhem that is more supernatural than graphic, but there is moderate bloodletting, a snapped neck, a couple of stabbings, not to mention the stylishly gross Cirque du Freak woman (Jane Krakowski) who can tear off her limbs and grow them back. At one point Darren's human family, including a child, is in danger. OK for most teens with strong stomachs.

"The Stepfather" (NEW) -- A psycopath poses as a sensitive widower, courts single women with kids, then murders them, changes his name and moves on in this predictable but effectively creepy remake of the R-rated 1987 film. Dylan Walsh (of TV's "Nip/Tuck") plays the insidious David, and Sela Ward his latest prey, a divorcee with three kids. It is her teenage son (Penn Badgley), a sometimes troubled kid, who becomes suspicious of David, though his girlfriend (Amber Heard, nearly always in a bikini) thinks he's silly. The movie shows David throwing an old woman downstairs and asphyxiating her. He drowns one victim and bludgeons another. More violence is strongly implied with knives and a buzz saw, though just off-camera. David also grips a child painfully by the neck. There are make-out scenes that hint at an intimate teen sexual relationship. Characters drink beer and wine, and a teen drinks liquor at an adult's urging. There is occasional profanity. Not really for middle-schoolers.

"Good Hair" (LIMITED RELEASE) -- Comedian Chris Rock headlines (and co-produced and co-wrote) this enlightening documentary about African-American women and how they feel about -- and treat -- their hair. Rock delves into the questions of what's deemed beautiful, whether to straighten or go "natural," why a women would spend $1,000-plus on a hair weave, and how African-American men feel about all this. There are interviews with everyday people and famous ones (including Dr. Maya Angelou, the Rev. Al Sharpton, actresses Nia Long and Raven Symone, singer Eve, rapper Ice-T). The idea for the documentary, says Rock, was sparked when his 5-year-old daughter asked why she didn't have "good hair." The history behind that question lends poignancy to this often funny film. There is some profanity, brief strong sexual language, and men referring to women as "chicks" and "broads." Intriguing material for high-schoolers.

"Couples Retreat" -- A perfect example of how useless the PG-13 rating has become, this crass, misbegotten comedy is full of masturbatory and testicular humor and graphic visual innuendo. If it were actually funny, one could forgive and just recommend it for 17 and older. But it is mostly dull. Four couples -- Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell), Dave (Vince Vaughn) and Ronnie (Malin Akerman), Joey (Jon Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis), and the divorced Shane (Faizon Love) and his 20-year-old girlfriend Trudy (Kali Hawk) -- get a group rate at a resort that includes New Age-y marital counseling. The female characters barely register, except for Trudy, who is played -- shame on the filmmakers -- as an over-the-top African-American stereotype. There is an implied nongraphic sexual situation, a bare behind, implied frontal nudity, toilet humor, milder profanity, infidelity themes, a silly shark incident, and drinking. Not for under-17s.

"Whip It" -- Drew Barrymore makes her directing debut and proves strong with actors and messy with narrative. "Whip It" (written by Shauna Cross, based on her book) is about Texas teen Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page of "Juno" fame -- PG-13, 2007), chafing under her mother's (Marcia Gay Harden) insistence that she take part in a prissy teen beauty pageant. One day Bliss spies a few raucous young women on skates and learns they're part of a roller-derby team, using names like Rosa Sparks (pop star Eve) and Smashley Simpson (Barrymore). She joins them as Babe Ruthless. There are subtle drug references (no drug use), cigarette smoking by an adult, beer drinking by teens, an implied teen sexual situation (kissing, removal of outer clothing), midrange profanity, crude sexual slang and mayhem on skates. OK for high-schoolers.

-- R's:

"Law Abiding Citizen" (NEW) -- Strong performances don't lend enough gravitas to this bloody revenge drama, marred by an implausible plot and exploitative violence. Gerard Butler plays Clyde, a man who loses his wife and daughter in a vicious home invasion, then plots painful deaths not only for the killers, who he believes got off too easily, but against law enforcement officials he feels were too eager to make a deal. Jamie Foxx plays Nick, the prosecutor on the original case. Though Nick takes him into custody, Clyde somehow orchestrates mayhem from prison. In one upsetting scene, Nick's little daughter (Emerald-Angel Young) accidentally sees a video showing how Clyde tortured and dismembered one of the killers. While not hyper-graphic, the scene feels gory. There is an execution by lethal injection that goes wrong and becomes "cruel and unusual." A mini-explosion blows someone's brains out. The film also contains some strong profanity and briefly crude sexual innuendo. Not for under-17s.

"Paranormal Activity" (NEW) -- A young couple, Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat), try to get rid of a ghost -- or demon -- that has begun to disturb their slumbers in this entertaining, if derivative, low-budget hit. There is no on-screen violence (though there is briefly implied off-screen violence), only disturbing noises and an invisible force that moves doors and leaves other evidence of its presence. Katie believes the "presence" has haunted her on and off since childhood. Micah decides to record their sleep on video to capture the supernatural visits, and what they see when they play it back each day becomes more and more eerie. Micah insists on trying to contact the spirit with a Ouija board. Bad idea. The R rating reflects profanity and understated innuendo about the unwed couple's sex life. Characters drink wine. OK for high-schoolers and even some middle-schoolers.