Action
Action Movie reviews
The Dark Knight Rises Review
A hero turned into a fugitive, that’s how we last saw Bruce Wayne/Batman eight years ago in The Dark Knight. At the end of the previous film Batman had taken the blame of the death of D.A. Harvey Denton and the crimes the D.A. had committed. Batman ultimately wanted the people of Gotham to be inspired by their D.A’s example of hope and heroism; a true selfless act. Now in The Dark Knight Rises Bruce Wayne/Batman comes out of his self-imposed exile and has another dangerous mission to accomplish. With the arrival of a ruthless masked terrorist named Bane (Tom Hardy), Bruce Wayne must put on his mask and cape and save Gotham City from the evil villain. The Dark Knight Rises is a very dark, violent, action packed movie, however it does have some wonderful lessons woven throughout the film.
Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: December 4, 2012
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 13+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content:Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
Amongst the violence and gore, the film has a message of hope and humility. Bruce Wayne/Batman wanted to save the people of Gotham; he sacrificed his life in hoping to do so. He didn’t want any recognition or glory; he hid under his mask and cape, while saving lives. Batman never gave up, he did what he had to do, and did the right thing. Batman’s good, humble deeds could spark some great parent/child conversations.
The main theme of the film is good vs. evil. The villain is a cruel evil man, while Batman is a good helpful person.
Batman came from a wealthy family, though he was grounded and realized what was truly important in life… not the material things.
This was a very suspenseful film, I was at the edge of my seat, not knowing what was going to happen.
There are flashbacks and references to Harvey Dent from the previous movie. For people that have not seen Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, they might be a little confused.
There is an all-star cast to name a few; Tom Hardy, Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anne Hathaway.
This is NOT a movie for young children. Kids tend to admire the Batman character, and some even like to dress up as Batman; however this is not a movie for young kids. Depending on the child, I would say it’s appropriate for teenagers and up, however they may not understand the underlying messages.
Sexual Content: Mild
- We see two character’s passionately kiss; in the next scene they’re shown lying in bed. It’s implied they’ve had a sexual encounter.
Violent Content: Excessive
- There are gun shots fired throughout the whole film.
- Several character’s are punched and brutally beaten.
- Bane, the evil terrorist, ruthlessly killed hundreds of people. It was very disturbing when he grabbed another character by the throat and choked him to death.
- We see Bruce Wayne/Batman suffer as he was brutally beaten by Bane, this was another disturbing scene.
- We see injured characters, bloody with open wounds.
- Bane is an awful, cruel character, he wears a mask which covers his mouth, and has a creepy voice.
- Bane destroys a football stadium with thousands of people in it.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- One character says to another character, ” you dumb b–ch.
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Overall this is a suspenseful, action packed movie. Parents need to be aware of the violent, dark and disturbing scenes. As I previously mentioned, depending on the child, I would say this is appropriate for kids ages 13 and up.
Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Review
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the third film in the CS Lewis series. It’s about Edmund and Lucy, the two younger siblings in the Pevensie family. In England, during WWll, the children are staying with their obnoxious cousin Eustace. While looking at an ocean painting on the wall in their cousin’s bedroom, the children are swept away to Narnia; in the ocean beside the Dawn Treader, which is commanded by Caspian who is now King. The three children, accompanied by King Caspian, have many adventures as they sail to find the source of an evil green mist.
Rating: Five out of five buckets
Release Date: April 8 , 2011
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: Any age
Sexual Content: None
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drugs and Alcohol Content: None
Talking Points:
It’s interesting because as King Caspian and the three kids are trying to find the source of this evil mist, a magician tells them “to defeat the darkness out there, you must defeat the darkness inside yourself.” So now they each have their own personnel things to conquer.
- Lucy is jealous of her beautiful sister, and wants to look like her.
- Edmund, has to accept Caspian as their King.
- Eustace, has many issues, particularly that he’s an obnoxious pest and a coward.
The kids in the audience may be able to relate to some of their own insecurities, and how to cope with them.
The transformation of the cousin was one of my favorite parts. In Narnia, unable to resist a certain temptation, he turns into a dragon. Ironically, this mean boy turns into a nice, brace, noble dragon. By the grace of Aslan (In Narnia Aslan is a lion, who is the Savior), Eustace turns back into a boy. In this transformation scene Eustace states that he couldn’t do it by himself no matter how hard he tried, he needed the help of the Savior. This could be a good parent child discussion after the movie.
I read, “There are deep spiritual underpinnings in the movie. And it marks Dawn Treader as a voyage of faith and belief.” As the mouse says, “We have nothing, if not belief.”
Violent Content: Mild
- There’s a scary serpent that attacks the Dawn Treader as it sails toward a dark island, this may scare younger kids.
- In the beginning they’re at an island, some of the children were captured by evil guys.
Profanity: None
Sexual Content: None
I interviewed kids ages 5 to 14 after the movie. They all enjoyed it. The five year olds liked the dragon, while the older kids seemed to like the adventurous parts of the movie. Parents liked the spiritual meaning behind the movie.
Overall this is a wonderful, entertaining movie, with valuable life lessons we can all learn from. Like I said earlier, this is a the type of movie that could spark some great parent-child discussions.
Cars 2- Kids Movie Review
In Cars 2 we once again see star race car Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson), and his pal, tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) as they head overseas to compete in first-ever World Grand Prix. However, it’s not as easy as they had planned; Mater gets caught in his own adventure, as he accidentally gets involved in an international conspiracy to sabotage the big race car event. While Lightening is busy with the race, Mater travels from Japan to Europe in an exciting chase, as the whole world is watching his surprising and hilarious adventure. In this sequel, there are some new and colorful cars, for the whole family to enjoy.
Rating: Four out of five buckets
Release Date: November 1, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: Any age
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Talking Points:
There’s a message about the importance of friendships. One character says, “Whoever finds a friend, finds a treasure.” Lightening and Mater have a special relationship. Even though Lightening gets very frustrated with his ditzy friend, he learns to appreciate Mater’s good and likable qualities.
Though fun and entertaining, this film had more potty and slapstick humor than the first Cars movie. The kids in the theater seemed to enjoy, not sure about the parents.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Mater has a romantic interest, there’s a little innocent flirting going on between he and his girl.
Violent Content:
- Some cars are equipped with rockets and other spy gear, which resulted in many explosions and heated chase scenes.
- Some bad guys use gas to subdue Mater.
- Mater has a time bomb tied to his engine, this may scare young kids, you’re not sure if Mater will make it.
Crude or Profane Language:
- Words such as “idiot” and “jerk” are used.
Drug and Alcohol Content:
- Cars go to a pub, and are served cocktail drinks.
Cars 2 is an entertaining movie for the whole family. With the likable, colorful cars, and a lot of adventure, kids will be thoroughly entertained. Having said that, I feel that the original Cars movie was better, and had an innocence about it that I enjoyed. Cars 2 had more crash scenes and violence; if your kids are sensitive to that, you may want to wait, otherwise it’s a good one to see at the theater this summer!
Captain America: The First Avenger Review
Steve Rogers ( Chris Evans ) a very weak, frail boy wanted nothing more than to enlist in the army during WWll; however, with his small size and poor health conditions, he was rejected several times. After seeing the horrific footage of the war, he was more determined than ever to fight for his country. Luckily for Rogers, a General overheard his request to enlist, so he offered him the opportunity to be apart of a special experiment, one that Rogers couldn’t refuse! They injected a serum into his muscles, which would stimulate growth and therefore he would have a perfect muscular body…and that he did!!! After a three month intensive training program, Rogers became Captain America. He had an indestructible shield and a costume with the American flag on it. Rogers, now known as Captain America, was the new hope for America; not only to win the war, but to save the world from an evil man who wanted to destroy the universe! Captain America: The First Avenger, was an exciting, action packed, patriotic movie based on Marvel Comics fictional character, from World War ll.
Rating: Four out of five buckets
Release Date: October 25, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Moderate
Talking Points:
I’m not a huge comic book fan, but I enjoyed this movie. The characters were very likable, especially Captain America. He was a humble, meek guy, who was bothered by the war, and wanted to help. He was also a very loyal friend, who would do anything for you. He said, “I don’t like bullies, I don’t care where they’re from.”
This movie, set during WWll, could spark some good parent/child conversations. During the film we saw footage from the war, and of people celebrating V E day. During the movie my daughter asked some questions regarding WWll. A little history lesson during summer vacation… not a bad thing!
Through all the action, there was a little romance to the story too, which I really liked.
Sexual Content: Mild
- A couple of kisses and innocent flirting.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- People were shot at, stabbed and punched throughout the movie.
- Many people died being thrown out of airplanes.
- The “bad guy” in the movie was scary looking. I don’t want to give too much of the movie away, but he had some evil ways and could really scare some kids.
- There were many explosions with characters being blown up.
- We see a character slowly dying, while foaming at the mouth.
Profane or Crude Language: Mild
- There may have been a couple of swear words, but nothing too bad.
Alcohol and Drug Content: Moderate
- There were characters drinking beer at a pub, getting a little tipsy.
- Other characters shown drinking cocktails throughout the film.
Overall this was a fun action packed movie. Parents need to know that there was a lot of violence and many intense scenes. If you’re comfortable with your kids seeing this type of movie, and they like action films, I would recommend it for kids ages 12 and up.
Bedtime Stories Review
Bedtime Stories is a family comedy about a hotel handy man (Skeeter) whose life changes when the outrages bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to come true. His niece and nephew unknowingly have the power to make the stories become real.
Rating: Five out of five buckets
Release Date: April 7, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 8+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Talking Points:
His clever and creative storytelling is portrayed as a fun and relaxing family activity, which may inspire viewers to do the same thing.
I read that when Adam Sandler was asked about the film he said, “I wanted to make sure I made one movie in my career that mothers hug me for.”
Though Skeeters storytelling may be self-absorbed, he is a devoted and loyal uncle who loves his niece and nephew. His love and dedication is shown throughout the movie, as the children are going through a hard time with their parents divorce.
His storytelling highlights greed. He tells stories to get what he wants, (A Ferrari, and a million dollars),
Sexual Content: Mild
- There are some sexual references. Skeeter comments on a girls reputation, saying that she is hot and that she likes to have a good time.
- In real life and his stories, Skeeter tries to kiss several women, and he says he’s a great kisser. Eventually, he actually does kiss a character.
Violent Content: Mild
- There are some violent scenes in a few of Skeeter’s bedtime stories. There are battle scenes, and laser beams are used in some of his stories.
- Skeeter steals a motorcycle as a way to rapidly get to a crime scene.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- Words such as “stupid,” and “weird,”
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Characters drink alcohol. Skeeter mentions drinking in his “bedtime stories.”
Overall, it’s a fun, heart warming, unassuming movie that the whole family will enjoy.
My kids ages 9, 11 and 12 loved it too.