Action
Action Movie reviews
Let’s Be Cops- Teen movie review
Ryan (Jake Johnson) and Justin (Damon Wayans Jr.) are two 30-year-old guys, best friends and roommates, trying to figure out their lives and how to be successful in the big city of L.A. Things dramatically change for the struggling roomies when they attend a costume party dressed as police officers. On their way home from the party they get a lot of attention from women, and finally feel a sense of confidence and control as they strut around in their uniforms. This gradually becomes an everyday event, however things get complicated when they get involved with a gang of Russian drug lords and their fake lives as police officers becomes a reality.
Rating: 2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: November 11, 2014
MPAA Rating: R
Best Age Group: 17+
Sexual Content: Moderate
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
Drugs and Alcohol: Moderate
Will it Appeal to kids/ teens? Yes
Talking Points:
Besides all the crude humor in the film, there is a nice message about friendship. Justin and Ryan look out for each other, they discover it’s friendships that help people become who they want to be.
This is an R-rated film, one that a lot pre-teens want to see. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence, crude language and sexual references throughout the film. See details below.
Sexual Content: Moderate
- We see a naked obese man, front side and back.
- A woman takes off her top, we see her bare back.
- A woman, showing a lot of cleavage, tries to entice Ryan to have a sexual encounter.
- At a bar a group of woman think that Ryan and Justin are strippers. Ryan begins to dance and remove his clothes, then some women tell him they want to have sex.
Violent Content: Moderate
- There are a lot of gun shots and intense fights. Characters are punched in the face, shot at and some beaten to death.
- Ryan is tied down to a table and tortured by villains.
- Justin and Ryan wrap plastic wrap around a man, then proceed to put his head under the kitchen sink.
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
- The f-word was said continuously throughout the film, along with “d–n,” “b–ch,” “h–,” “a–,” and “a-hole.” Also, sexual words referring to male and female body parts such as, “d–k,” “p—y,” and “balls.”
Drugs and Alcohol: Moderate
- Characters are shown smoking marijuana and crystal meth. We also see characters drinking beer and wine at bars and parties.
Will it Appeal to kids/ teens? Yes
Overall “Let’s Be Cops” is an action packed film with some sexual references woven throughout. As I previously mentioned, parents need to be aware of the excessive violence and profane language.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-Kids Movie Review
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is centered around the lives of four six-foot tall talking turtles…Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Leonardo, all of whom are named after famous Renaissance figures. These lovable teenage turtles live in the sewers below New York City, and were properly raised by a man-sized rat named Splinter. The turtles and Splinter have a nice quiet life in their home, however things change when the turtles and rat get involved with a news correspondent named April O’Neil (Megan Fox). As April is trying to break a story about a gang robbery, she eventually comes to realize that there are evil villains trying to destroy New York City. Now it’s up to the four turtles, the rat and the beautiful newscaster to save The Big Apple.
Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: December 16, 2014
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 8+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Will it Appeal to kids/ teens? Yes
Talking Points:
It’s noted in the film that the turtles were raised to be hardworking and honorable teenage creatures. This could spark a good parent/child conversation.
Kids were at the edge of their seats watching the action and adventure of the lovable turtles.
Sexual Content: Mild
- One of the turtles makes a comment about April saying, “She’s so hot I can feel my shell tightening.”
Violent Content: Excessive
- Character’s are shot, kicked, thrown around, and brutally beaten.
- Villains abuse and torture Splinter and the turtles with jolts of electricity. They’re also beaten, stabbed and shot.
- A character is covered with toxins, we see his burned and oozing skin as he slowly dies.
- As one of the turtles is beaten, his shell is almost cracked open.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- “A–,” is said, “stupid,” and “numbnuts.”
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
- The turtles are injected with mutagens.
Will it Appeal to kids/teens? Yes
- I interviewed two 9 year old boy who said they loved the action and suspense.
Overall Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a fun action packed film for kids. Having said that, parents need to be aware of the excessive violence in the movie. Depending on the child, this is appropriate for kids 8 and up.
Guardians of the Galaxy- Kids Movie Review
A talking raccoon, a tree-like creature, Drax the Destroyer, an assassin named Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and a smooth talking, handsome guy from Earth named Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), are the Guardians of the Galaxy. They are a group of misfits who all want to make some money by selling a strange metallic orb. However when they discover that the orb is a dangerous weapon, they eventually come to realize that they must keep it away from the evil Ronan. Ronan is a powerful villain who threatens to destroy the universe. Now it’s up to this odd group of characters to save the world and be the Guardians of their Galaxy.
Rating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5
Release Date: December 9, 2014
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Will it Appeal to kids/ teens? Yes
Talking Points:
The film has a great mix of action/adventure and comedy. Though there are a lot of violent scenes, the characters are funny and entertaining. A great soundtrack as well, with a sentimental element to it.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Peter flirts with Gamora and tries to kiss her, though she wants no part of that. She even tells him not to use his “pelvis magic” on her.
Violent Content: Excessive
- Humans and aliens are punched, kicked, shot, stabbed, choked and blown up. Sometimes they’re serious, sometimes they’re silly.
- Buildings are smashed and destroyed by explosions.
- We see little critters eaten by larger animals.
- When character’s hold a certain weapon, we see their insides burn up and their skin flakes off.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- The f-word is said once, we also hear “a–,” “sh-t,” “p–ck,” “d–k,” “b–ch,” “b–tard,” “d–n,” and “h–.”
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
- Character’s are shown drinking alcoholic beverages.
Will it Appeal to kids/teens? Yes
- I interviewed two 14 year old girls and a 9 year old boy who loved the film. They thought it was funny and said it was, “The best Marvel film yet.”
Overall this is a fun action packed entertaining film. Having said that, parents need to be aware of the excessive violence. Depending on the child this is appropriate for kids ages 10 and up.
Hercules-Kids Movie Review
Hercules (Dwayne Johnson), the son of Zeus, and his five mercenary companions are traveling in Greece on a mission for more gold. They want one more payday so they can retire and enjoy life. The gang finally get their big break when the princess from the kingdom of Thrace approaches Hercules. She asks for help to restore peace to her father’s kingdom, as it’s in grave danger from the wicked Rhesus. Now Hercules and his cohorts have a job to fulfill, they need to save a kingdom and restore peace to all.
Rating: 2 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: November 5, 2014
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Will it Appeal to teens? No
Talking Points:
Hercules is a good guy. Though strong and powerful, he doesn’t want all the attention and glory. He says, “I only want to be a husband and father.”
Dwayne Johnson has been in a lot of kids movies, he even won “Favorite Male Buttkicker Award at the 2013 Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards.” Since the film stars Johnson, kids may find it appealing, however Hercules is very violent and deals with the mature subject of loved ones dying. Something parents should be aware of before sending their kids to this movie.
Sexual Content: Mild
- In a flashback, we see Hercules’ mother wearing a transparent dress; the audience sees her breasts.
- Hercules’ wife is shown naked with her clothes on the floor. We see her back side.
Violent Content: Excessive
- There are numerous deaths, characters killed by arrows, spears, swords, falling statues and other strange weapons.
- We see bloody corpses covering battle fields.
- A character rubs his finger around a corpses lips, then licks the blood off his finger.
- Hercules kills several characters with his powerful club.
- We see Hercules kill a large boar, a lion and a multi-headed hydra.
- There are brutal flashbacks of Hercules’ wife and kids being killed, they’re shown covered in blood.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- The f-word is said once, we also hear “sh-t,” “b–tard,” and “h–l.”
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
- Characters are shown drinking in a tavern.
- Someone drinks wine, that supposedly is spiked with a drug.
Will it Appeal to teens? No
Overall this is an action packed, violent film. Having said that, it may not interest kids as the storyline is slow and boring. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence throughout the film.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes-Teen Movie Review
Man vs. apes!! A group of genetically evolving apes come into contact with some humans who had survived a deadly virus, which had destroyed most of humanity ten years prior. As the humans and apes try to get along, they eventually realize that with anger and mistrust, things aren’t that easy as they had thought. Both sides and are now on the brink of a war to determine who will be the Earth’s dominant species…Man or Ape?
Rating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: December 2, 2014
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Will it Appeal to teens? Yes
Talking Points:
There are some wonderful heartwarming messages. Caesar (the ape) continually stresses the importance of getting along and avoiding conflict. The film highlights the importance of a happy and loving family.
The film is very dark and violent…with several battles, which may scare kids.
Sexual Content: None
Violent Content: Extensive
- There are intense and dark man-ape battle scenes, with gunfire and swords.
- A group of apes are crushed by a bus.
- An ape village is set on fire destroying both men and apes.
- Apes hurt innocent humans by grabbing them, slamming them to the ground and throwing them into cages.
- Two men are shot at, point blank by an ape.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- The f-word is said once. We also hear; “sh-t,” “a–,” “b–ch,” and “h—.”
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
- We see a character smoking a cigarette.
- Men are shown drinking alcohol.
Will it Appeal to teens? Yes
Overall this is an action packed movie, parents need to be aware of the excessive violence throughout the film. Depending on the child this Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is appropriate for kids ages 10 and up.