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    Movie Reviews

    Action

    Action Movie reviews

    Elysium- Teen Movie Review

    It is the year 2154, there are two classes of people; the haves and the have-nots. The haves live on a man-made space station called Elysium. It’s a beautiful, pristine area; robots do the dirty work and the citizens live a life of luxury. They don’t even have to worry when they’re sick, most of the citizens own a body scanner that can heal any disease or illness. The have-nots live on an overpopulated Earth, filled with crime and poverty. However there is hope for these two worlds to come together. Max (Matt Damon) an ordinary guy living on Earth, desperately needs to get up to Elysium. He has radiation poison, and has only five days to live. So he embarks on a dangerous mission to get up to Elysium; not only to save his life, but the millions of people living on Earth as well. Elysium is an R rated movie with a lot of graphic, disturbing violence throughout the film.

     

    ElysiumRating: 2 out of 5 buckets
    Release Date: December 17, 2013
    MPAA Rating: PG13
    Best Age Group: Adults
    Sexual Content: Mild
    Violent Content: Excessive
    Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
    Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
    Will it Appeal to Teens? No

     

    See a clip of my review here!

    See the trailer here!

    Talking Points:

    {Spoiler Alert} Max is a wonderful character, he sacrifices his life for the millions of people living on Earth.

    The film will spark some interesting parent/child conversations regarding politics;  healthcare and immigration.

    This film is very dark with a lot of disturbing images.  It is an R rated film, so kids under 17 must be accompanied by an adult.

    Sexual Content: Mild

    • A bad guy threatens to rape a woman (a friend of Max’s). He sniffs her hair, while she’s holding her sick daughter. This was disturbing.

    Violent Content: Excessive

    • Max is beaten up by two droid policemen, one even breaks his arm.
    • There are numerous fights and injuries throughout the film; people violently stabbing, punching and kicking one another.
    • We see a part of a man’s face blown off, which was disgusting!
    • A woman gets skewered in the neck with a piece of glass, she dies.
    • There are a lot of deaths, civilians are shot down with missiles and blown up.
    • We see doctors drill into Max’s head.

    Crude or Profane Language: Mild

    • The f-word was said consistently throughout the film. We also heard, “a–,” “b–ch,” “h–,”  and “p–y.”

    Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild

    • Characters are shown drinking beer.
    • We see Max taking pills.

    Will it Appeal to Teens?  No

    Elysium is an action packed film. As I previously mentioned, it is an R rated, so kids under 17 must be accompanied by an adult. Having said that, I do not recommend this film for teenagers due to the graphic, disturbing violent content and the excessive profane language.

    Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters-Kids Movie Review

    Camp for a demigod is not all fun and games. Percy Jackson, the half-human son of Poseidon, and his best friends; Annabeth (Athena’s daughter) and Glover (a satyr) are back at Camp Half-Blood. Initially things were going well, until a mechanical bull stormed into the camp and broke the barrier that protected the demigods from strangers entering into the camp. To save their home, Percy and his friends embarked on dangerous mission to the Sea of Monsters (Bermuda Triangle). They wanted to find the mythical Golden Fleece which has the power to save their training ground and their home…Camp Half-Blood. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, based on Rick Riordan’s fantasy books series, is the sequel to Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief. It’s an action packed film for the whole family.

    Percy Jackson- Sea of MonstersRating: 4 and 1/2 out of 5
    Release Date: December 17, 2013
    MPAA Rating: PG
    Best Age Group: 10+
    Sexual Content: Mild
    Violent Content: Moderate
    Crude or Profane Language: Mild
    Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
    Will it Appeal to Kids? Yes

     

    Talking Points:

    Positive messages of bravery, humility, forgiveness and the importance of family are woven throughout the film. Great parent/child conversations.

    The Percy Jackson book series is very popular with elementary school children. Parents need to be aware of the violent content  that may scare young kids.

    Sexual Content: None

    Violent Content: Moderate

    • Luke, Percy’s friend who turned into an enemy, attacked Camp Half-Blood with a mechanical bull. The bull tore up the camp, but Percy stopped the bull by jabbing a sword down his throat.
    • There were several battles with fist fights and weapons.
    • A Cyclops attacked Percy and friends, though they escaped without injury.
    • Percy and another character were eaten by a monster. To escape, they used a special gun to blow a hole in the monsters stomach.
    • Kronos, Poseiden’s evil father, attacked anyone he could get his claws on, he even ate an innocent victim.
    • We saw a  flashback that involved Percy and his friends as children. They were chased by a monster in the forest; this may scare youngsters.

    Crude or Profane Language: Mild

    • “D-mn,” and  “b–ch,” are said.
    • Name calling such as; “stupid,” and ‘moron.”

    Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild

    • We saw characters drinking wine.

    Will it Appeal to Kids?  Yes

    Overall Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is a wonderful action packed film, one that elementary kids and pre-teens will enjoy. Parents need to be aware of the moderate violence throughout the film.

    2 Guns-Teen Movie Review

    DEA agent Bobby Trench (Denzel Washington) and U. S. naval intelligence officer, Marcus ‘Stig’ Stigman (Mark Wahlberg) are both undercover officers, and both on a mission to take down a Mexican drug cartel. However after a failed attempt, they realized they must stay together to survive the ruthless gangsters who want to see them tortured and dead. While on the run, the two men learn a lot about each other, and the corrupt government officials they’ve been involved with. 2 Guns is an action packed adventurous film, one that teenage boys may find entertaining.

    2 GunsRating: 2 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets.
    Release Date: August 2, 2013
    MPAA Rating: R
    Best Age Group: 17+
    Sexual Content: Moderate
    Violent Content: Excessive
    Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
    Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
    Will it Appeal to Teens? Yes

     

    See the trailer here!

    Talking Points:

    There is an all star cast, to name a few; Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Bill Paxton and James Marsden.

    Amongst all the violence Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg were a great team; very humorous and entertaining together.

    There were some very disgusting parts in the film. A character urinated on his hands before hitting Bobby and Stig with a bat, earlier in the film we saw this same character unconscious and covered in his own vomit.

    This is a violent film; we see corrupt government agents, stolen cash, human and animal torture, we also heard several foul discussions regarding body parts.

    Sexual Content: Moderate

    • We saw two character’s laying in bed together; the man was shirtless and the woman was only wearing a skimpy pair of panties. We saw her bare chest.

    Violent Content: Excessive

    • Character’s are tortured by a CIA operative as he tried to get information from them. He put tacks in a man’s hand, he shot a victim in the leg, leaving him in agony,  and threatened another man by pointing a gun at his crotch.
    • Stig and Bobby are hung upside down in a barn, while a gangster tortured them with a bat.
    • There are several punches, viscous brawls and explosions throughout the film.  In addition to all the fights, a lot of character’s are shot to death.

    Crude or Profane Language: Excessive

    • The f-word, “sh-,” “a–,” and “d–n,” “b–ch,” and “h–,” are said through the film.

    Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild

    • We saw character’s drinking alcohol.

    Will it Appeal to Teens? Yes

    Overall this is an action packed film. Parents need to be aware of the, brief nudity, excessive violence, potty humor and profane language. This is an R rated movie, kids under 17 must be accompanied by an adult.

    The Wolverine-Teen Movie Review

    To be forever young, not worrying about grey hair and wrinkles…sounds great!  Well, not that great for Logan (Hugh Jackman), aka Wolverine, an immortal guy who doesn’t age.  Everyone that Logan had loved eventually died, he became so frustrated that he resorted to living in a cave with no purpose in life.  However, things changed the day he was summoned to Japan by an old acquaintance. In Japan, Logan got involved with a powerful family, and was forced to make some changes in life; a change that would effect him forever. The Wolverine is  an action packed film, based on the comic book character, Wolverine, from the X-Men series.

    The WolverineRating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets
    Release Date: December 2, 2013
    MPAA Rating: PG13
    Best Age Group: 13+
    Sexual Content: Mild
    Violent Content: Excessive
    Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
    Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
    Will it Appeal to Kids? Yes

     

    See the trailer here!

    Talking Points:

    Amongst all the violence there were some wonderful messages. {Spoiler alert} When Logan became a mortal, he learned to appreciate companionship and received care from others; something he typically never accepted.

    Initially Logan was a loner, with his immortally he watched everyone he loved die, however through his relationship with Mariko, he found meaning and purpose to his life.

    Logan was a caring, thoughtful guy. He sacrificed his life for his love, Mariko, and fought to save innocent victims as well.

    Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence, see details below.

    Sexual Content: Mild

    • We saw a male character, who was only wearing boxers, flirting and caressing two women.
    • Logan and Mariko went to a “love hotel.” Nothing happened in that scene, however later it was implied that they had a sexual encounter.
    • We saw flashbacks of Logan kissing an old girlfriend.

    Violent Content: Excessive

    • Logan was shot and stabbed several times, we saw open wounds and blood on his shirt.
    • Logan cut his chest open to remove a parasite from his heart.
    • A woman named Viper had snake like powers and was very evil and creepy. She sliced several character’s with her sharp nails, tortured others by exhaling poison, and even killed people by kissing them.
    • There was a fight on a moving train. We saw character’s fall out of the train.
    • Blades eject from Wolverine’s knuckles, he used them when fighting.

    Crude or Profane Language:

    • We heard the f-word once. Other words such as; “b–ch,” “d–n,’ and “h–,” were used.

    Drugs and Alcohol Content:

    • Characters were shown drinking in bars.

    Will it Appeal to Kids? Yes

    Overall The Wolverine is an action packed film, one that teenagers may like. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence throughout the film. Depending on the kid, I feel this is appropriate for kids ages 13 and up.

     

    R.I.P.D-Teen Movie Review

    Nick Walker (Ryan Reynolds) was a detective in Boston and unfortunetely was killed in the line of duty. Even though he had passed on, his working days of being a police officer weren’t over. Before he knew it, Nick was at the headquarters of the Rest in Peace Department, otherwise know as the R.I P.D.  Continue reading