Fantasy

Fantasy movie reviews

Tomorrowland-Kids’ Movie Review

Casey Newton (Britt Robertson), a very bright and optimistic teenage girl is determined to make the future a better place. One day she comes across a mysterious pin; when she touches the pin she gets a glimpse of a bright and wonderful future. Curious and confused; Casey is anxious to learn about the pin and why she was destined to find it. So she decides to recruit Frank Walker (George Clooney), an inventor who can hopefully help this optimistic teenage girl’s dream come true.

Rating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: October 13, 2015
MPAA Rating: PG
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:

The subjects of perseverance, hope and love are woven throughout the film. Casey is a determined high school girl who believes in working towards her dreams and to not be afraid. Great parent/child conversations.
The film is 122 minutes, which seemed very long. Some parts were confusing as well.

Sexual Content: Mild

When Frank Walker was a boy he had a crush on Athena (the girl/robot who recruited him into Tomorrowland). As Frank aged and Athena didn’t (since she’s a robot) he still had feelings for her. This was odd since she looked like a 12-year old girl and he was a middle aged man.

Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive

There are numerous fights and battles with the evil robots and human characters. One robot is smashed by a baseball bat, we also see their hands and heads chopped off.
Characters fly around wearing jet packs. As they fly all over, we see them hitting each other and smashing into buildings. There are some bloody injuries from their rough flight.
One character is hit by a truck.
Character’s use metal sticks to make others unconscious.
We see several buildings and robots explode.

Crude or Profane Language: Moderate

We hear “d–n,” “h–,” and “son of a…”

Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild

Casey’s father worries that she’s doing drugs; with her strange behavior. Though she denies doing drugs she does admit to trying beer.

Will Kids Like It? Yes

I interviewed three 14 year old girls who loved the film. They got confused in some parts, but overall enjoyed the interesting storyline.
I interviewed younger kids (ages 6 to 9) as well who loved it too. They liked the characters and all the action.

Overall this is a entertaining Disney movie. Having said that, this is a PG rated film and parents need to be aware of the excessive violence.

Insurgent-Teen Movie Review

Insurgent is the second installment in the very popular Divergent series. As in the first film, Insurgent is set in futuristic Chicago, where people are divided into factions based on human virtues. Abnegation (the selfless), Amity (the kind), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave) and Erudite (the intelligent). Insurgent continues following the lives of teenagers Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) and her boyfriend Four (Theo James). In this film the young couple are on the run from Jeanine Matthews (Kate Winslet), the leader of the Erudite faction. Tris and Theo are on a mission to stop the powerful alliance from tearing their society apart, while hoping to figure out the secret to a better future. Based on the best-selling book series, Insurgent is an action packed, suspenseful film.

Rating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: August 5, 2015
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 14+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: Moderate
Will it Appeal to Most Pre-tees/teens? Yes

Talking Point:

There is an all-star cast, to name a few; Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Octavia Spencer and Miles Teller.
Tris is a strong character who wants to protect and save everyone. She’s willing to risk her life for the innocent victims whose lives are in jeopardy.

Sexual Content: Mild

It’s implied that Tris and Four have a sexual encounter. We see them kissing, while sitting on a bed. They remove their shirts, we only see their bare backs.

Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive

The violence is very disturbing especially when subjects are involved in virtual reality simulations. They’re forced into a a room with glass walls. The subjects are attached to cords, which are hanging from the ceiling. They’re injected with strong drugs and we see their memories, fears and special relationships. In one simulation we see someone trapped in a burning building, while flying through the air.
In the real world, there is a war. We see characters shot and killed, fist fights and stabbings. Many characters are injected with mind-control devices, which causes them to commit suicide.
Tris and Four are injected with truth serum. We see the needles going into their necks. If the subjects are not telling the truth, the serum causes great pain, which we saw with Tris.

Crude or Profane Language: Mild

We hear “d–n,” “h–,” and “sh-t.”

Drug and Alcohol Content: Moderate

We see character’s drinking wine.
Throughout the film we see character’s injected with powerful drugs. These drugs are very dangerous, causing great pain and even death.

Will it Appeal to Most Kids? Yes

Pre-teens/teens that have read the books will most likely enjoy the movie.

As I previously mentioned, Insurgent is a very action packed suspenseful movie. Parents need to be aware of the excessive and disturbing violence throughout the film.

Cinderella-Kids Movie Review

“Be kind and have courage,” were Ella’s (Cinderella, played by Lily James) mother’s dying last words. Ella honors her mother’s request and is a very kind and courageous loving young lady. After her mother’s death, Ella and her father remain very close and enjoy their lives together, however Ella’s life dramatically changes when her father decides to re-marry. Sadly he becomes very ill, and unexpectedly dies shortly after the wedding. Ella is left with an evil stepmother and two evil stepsisters. Continue reading →

Chappie- Teen Movie Review

The concept of being pulled over by a robotic police officer seems very strange, however that’s how it was in Johannesburg, South Africa. Set in 2016, the city of Johannesburg’s police force mainly consisted of robots. The storyline is centered around a particular police robot named Chappie, who’s been programmed to become the first robot who has the ability to think and feel for himself. However when a group of thug’s kidnap Chappie, they teach this innocent robot to become like them…shooting, looting and selling drugs. That’s when the battle begins, and that’s when poor Chappie gets involved in illegal activities…ones he was never built to do. Chappie is a dramatic Sci-Fi movie with a lot of disturbing violence and profane language throughout the film.

Rating: 1/2 bucket out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: June 16, 2015
MPAA Rating: R
Best Age Group: 17+
Sexual Content: Moderate
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
Drug and Alcohol Content: Excessive
Will it Appeal to Most Teens? No

Talking Points:

Deon, Chappie’s maker, encourages him to read, paint and better himself. He tells Chappie he can do whatever he wants to do in life. Deon also makes Chappie promise not to get involved with the thug’s criminal activities. Good parent/child conversations.
The movie was very disturbing, we saw the gang’s abusive way of living filled with drugs and crime. Chappie seemed like a child, not a robot; he was kidnapped and forced into their evil ways, which was hard to watch.

Sexual Content: Moderate

We see a brief porno clip on someone’s TV… full frontal female nudity.

Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive

The villains encourage Chappie to do evil and disturbing things to innocent people. Chappie manhandles people, leaving them on the streets covered in blood.
We see several characters shot and killed.
There are violent battles between men and robots. A man is shown crushed and torn in half by a metal claw.
Chappie is beaten and set on fire.

Crude or Profane Language: Excessive

The f-word is said numerous times throughout the film. We also hear “sh-t,” “a–,” “h—,” and “b–ch.”

Drug and Alcohol Content: Excessive

Characters are shown smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol throughout the film.
We see one of the thugs counting their drug stash.

Will it Appeal to Most Teens? Yes

I interviewed some teenage girls who loved Chappie (the robot) but didn’t like the film. One girl said, “I loved Chappie, he was so cute, but I didn’t like seeing him tortured.”

Chappie-Teen Movie Review

Jupiter Ascending-Teen Movie Review

The toilets are spotless, not a speck of dust on the penthouse floors. Jupiter Jones, her mother and aunt are maids for Chicago’s upper class. Jupiter hates her life, it’s boring and she’s broke! However, things dramatically change when a genetically engineered ex-soldier (Channing Tatum) arrives on Earth to inform Jupiter of her destiny as the Queen of the Universe. Now her boring life as a maid suddenly becomes very interesting.

Rating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: June 2, 2015
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
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 aren’t any valuable lessons or inspirational moments, just a lot of sci-fi action.

With Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis as the two main characters, the film will attract pre-teens.

Sexual Content: Mild

We see a woman only wearing her bra and underwear.
A couple passionately kiss.
A woman walks into a pool naked, we see her backside.

Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive

There are several battles throughout the film involving aliens and humans using various weapons and guns.
There are big , scary creatures shown throughout the film.
We see unconscious humans getting stabbed with needles.
A woman is beaten and choked.

Crude or Profane Language: Moderate

We hear “sh-t,” ‘d–n,” and “b–ch, ” several times each.

Drug and Alcohol Content:Mild

We see characters drinking beer.

Will Kids/Teens Like It? Yes

I interviewed two 12 year-old boys who loved the action and suspense of the film.
I interviewed a 13 year-old girl who said, “The movie was just okay, but Channing Tatum was hot!”

Overall Jupiter Ascending is an action packed sci-fi movie. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violent content.