Action
Action Movie reviews
Power Rangers-Kids’ Movie Review
At times teenagers have a lot of stress in their lives with relationships, school, sports and peer pressure. Though it’s nothing compared to the pressure that the five teens from a small town of Angel Grove have. These teens are ordinary high school students dealing with day to day life. However, things get really difficult for the teens when the world is threatened by an alien attack led by villain Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks). Now these five ordinary teenagers are chosen to band together as the Power Rangers, and are sent on a dangerous mission to save the world. Power Rangers is based on the popular ’90s TV show.
Rating: 3 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: June 27, 2017
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Moderate
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
- The film highlights the importance of teamwork.
- Power Rangers might appeal to young elementary-aged kids, though its more appropriate for middle-school aged kids and up.
- This film has more violence, language and mature themes unlike the TV show.
Sexual Content: Moderate
- A female character strips down to her underwear and jumps off a cliff.
- One of the female Power Rangers discusses with a friend that she might be gay.
- The female villain shows up in Trini’s (a female Power Ranger) bedroom and seductively strokes her face and neck.
- There’s talk of masturbation.
- There are references that someone digitally shared a student’s inappropriate photo.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- Characters are attacked, buildings are destroyed and blown up.
- Rita, the villain, drowns someone.
- Rita gathers the gold teeth that she’s removed from several victims’ mouths.
- The teen Power Rangers have scary visions
- where they see a street full of people all incinerated and turned into ash.
- Several characters are hit and killed by an asteroid.
- A train hits a van full of people; we see the van tumbling.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- We hear “sh-t,” “a–, “h—, and “b–ch.” A character starts to say, “m—–f—,” but then stops himself.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- The Rangers spend the night around a campfire, and it looks as though they’re drinking beer.
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Overall this is a fun and entertaining film. Having said that parents need to be aware of the violence and sexual content.
Kong: Skull Island-Kids’ Movie Review
They knew it would be more than a three hour tour, but it was way more than they expected. Kong: Skull Island follows a group of scientists who are on a mission to investigate a mysterious island in the Pacific. The jungle is beautiful and lush, however when the scientists arrive they hear rumbling noises… and it’s not Gilligan. It happens to be an enormous ape who’s trying to protect his habitat. Now the scientists must find a way to escape an island filled with dangerous creatures. Set in the 1970’s, this gorilla film is entertaining though violent.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: July 18, 2017
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
- There is an all-star cast. To name a few: Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly and John Goodman.
- Among all the violence and drama, there are some comedic parts especially with John C. Reilly. He adds some light humor.
Sexual Content: Mild
- We see women in revealing outfits dancing provocatively at a Saigon bar.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- Kong destroys a some helicopters, tearing the aircraft and occupants apart.
- Men are stepped on by Kong’s large feet, thrown around and tossed into Kong’s mouth.
- A gigantic, lizard-like creature eats soldiers and civilians.
- An enormous spider pushes its huge leg into a man’s mouth and down through his body.
- Kong and the island’s other monstrous inhabitants also fight one another in a huge battle.
- Kong and a large octopus battle one another.
- Soldiers use high caliber weapons and toxic gas to battle Kong.
- We see victims dismembered, stomped on, eaten, and tossed around.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- We hear the f-word once. We also hear “d–n,” “sh-t,” “h—,” “b–ch,” b–tard,” and “a–,” throughout the film.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- We see characters smoking pipes, drinking shots of alcohol and beer.
Will Kids Like It? Yes
- I interviewed some pre-teen and teenage boys who loved the film.
Overall this is an intense, action packed movie. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence throughout the film.
The Lego Batman Movie-Kids’ Movie Review
They’re all back; Batman (Will Arnett) and his sidekick Robin (Michael Cera), his loyal butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes), and of course his arch nemesis the Joker (Zach Galifianakis)… all as Lego’s. In this film Batman wants to stop the Joker from his hostile takeover of Gotham City, the only problem is Batman thinks he can do it alone. Eventually Batman comes to realize he might just need a little help from his friends and cohorts to save his beloved city.
Rating: 4 and 1/2 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: June 13, 2017
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 7+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
- The film highlights the importance of teamwork and family. Batman is humbled and realizes he can’t do everything by himself.
- There’s some potty-humor in the film. There are references to “farts” and being “silent but deadly.”
- There are a lot of butt jokes as well. Batman refers to Alfred as his “Buttler.”
Sexual Content: Mild
- Bruce Wayne labels himself as a “playboy.”
- Batman loves his body and well built physique.
- There’s a lot of humor relating to Robin’s given name, Dick.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
- There’s a lot of slapstick, silly violence.
- We see superheroes and villains get beat up, bashed and blown up.
- There are a lot of bad guys and battles throughout the film.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- We hear, “butt,” “loser,” and “sucks.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Batman and his butler Alfred discuss different kinds of wines.
Will Kids Like It? Yes
- I interviewed kids ages 5 to 8 who loved the film. Having said that, one 5 year old girl was scared, and didn’t like all the fighting.
Overall this is a fun, entertaining film for the whole family. Parents need to be aware of the mild potty humor and moderate violence throughout the film. I recommend this for kids ages 7 and up.
Monster Trucks-Kids Movie Review
Life can sometimes be dull in a small town, especially for high school senior Tripp (Lucas Till). Tripp is sick of high school and the obnoxious kids in school. He’s tired of Sheriff Rick, the know-it-all cop who happens to be dating his mom. Luckily, Tripp has a hobby and passion for trucks which keeps him occupied and out of trouble. He builds a Monster Truck from bits and pieces of scrapped cars. The only problem is he still needs an engine, so he can’t get very far in his truck. Tripp’s life dramatically changes the day an oil company accidentally releases three sea creatures, and one of them ends up under the hood of Tripp’s truck. Tripp discovers this creature who not only acts as the engine to his truck, but eventually becomes a loving friend. Monster Truck is an entertaining film for families with elementary school age kids.
Rating: 4 and 1/2 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: April 11, 2017
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 7+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
Sexual Content: Mild
- Flirting between two characters.
Violent Content: Moderate
- A character poisons an entire ecosystem which kills hundreds of people.
- We see numerous car chases and vehicles being demolished.
- There’s some gun violence which includes kids being shot at.
- Tripp’s truck drives over a lot of vehicles crushing them all.
Crude and Profane Language: None
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- A character drinks a glass of alcohol.
Overall this is a fun and suspenseful film, great for elementary school kids. Parents need to be aware of the moderate violent content.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story-Kids’ Movie Review
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…..,” the famous Star Wars opening line is back. This film focuses on a group of rebel spies who are on a mission to steal the plans for the original Death Star, the Empire’s weapon of destruction. Now the war begins between the Rebels and Imperial troops. Rogue One: Star Wars Story is an action packed film, one for all those Star Wars’ fans!!!
Rating: 4 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: April 4, 2017
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: None
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids/ Teens Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
- Most Star Wars’ fans will enjoy the nostalgic sentiments similar to the the original 1977 film.
- The battle between good and evil is once again highlighted in the movie.
- The film demonstrates the importance of hope, trust, friendship and doing the right thing.
Sexual Content: None
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- There are numerous battles throughout the film. Characters are killed by lasers, bombs and explosions.
- We see a Rebel shooting a wounded Stormtrooper to ensure his death.
- A creepy looking creature wraps its tentacles around someone’s head.
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- We see characters drinking in a bar.
Will Kids Teens Like It? Yes
- I interviewed several teenage boys. Most of them loved it, however a few thought it was slow and boring.
Overall this is another wonderful Star Wars film. Having said that, parents need to be aware of the excessive violence.