Reviews by Genre
Movie Reviews by Genre
The Shallows-Kids’ Movie Review
Texas girl Nancy Adams (Blake Lively) travels to a secluded beach in Mexico to get away as she mourns the loss of her mother who had recently died of cancer. While Nancy is happy and content enjoying the beautiful beach and surfing the big waves…danger ensures. A great white shark suddenly attacks Nancy and leaves her severely injured and stranded on a giant rock about 200 yards from shore. Frightened and alone, Nancy must figure out a way to survive as the deadly predator continually circles around her waiting for it’s prey.
Rating: 4 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: September 27, 2016
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 13+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Teens Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
- Through all the action and adventure the film highlights Nancy’s will and determination to keep fighting and never give up.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Nancy wears a skimpy bikini.
- We see male surfers flirting with Nancy.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- A great white shark brutally attacks several people. We see it dragging Nancy by her leg as the shark continually tortures her.
- A man is attacked and we see a huge amount of blood in the ocean.
- We see a man’s body on the beach torn in half by the ferocious shark.
- After Nancy is attacked she begins to stitch her torn flesh together with her earrings.
- We see Nancy’s foot turn purple and she claims that gangrene is setting in her limb.
- Nancy uses a flair gun which causes the shark to briefly be in flames.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- We hear the f-word and “sh-t.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- We see a drunk man passed out on the beach.
Will Teens Like It? Yes
- I interviewed four teenage girls that all loved it. They enjoyed the action and suspense of the film, and they’re fans of actress Blake Lively.
Overall The Shallows is a great summer flick. Parents need to be aware of the disturbing and violent aspects of the film.
Independence Day: Resurgence-Teen Movie Review
It’s been twenty years and the aliens are back as Fourth of July is quickly approaching. Scientist and alien defense expert David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) investigates a 3,000 mile wide mother ship and discovers that once again, aliens are approaching Earth. With the extraterrestrial technology and massive defense system the scientists and fighter pilots are on a mission to save the planet from another alien attack. Independence Day: Resurgence is the sequel to the 1996 film Independence Day.
Rating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5
Release Date: October 18, 2016
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 13+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Teens Like It?
Talking Points:
Sexual Content: Mild
- We see a couple kiss and hug. The woman jumps on her fiance and wraps her legs around him.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- Aliens destroy cities; building collapse and planes, ships and space stations are blown up.
- Billions of innocent victims die.
- The aliens are big large slimy creatures.
- We see humans choked to death by alien tentacles.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- We hear “sh-t,” “d–n,” “a–,” “b–ch,” and “h–l,” throughout the film.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- We see characters on a boat drinking heavily.
Will Teens Like It? Yes
- I interviewed two teenage boys who liked the action and suspense of the film. They like Independence Day as well.
Overall Independence Day: Resurgence is a dramatic action packed film. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violent content throughout the film.
Finding Dory-Kids’ Movie Review
What would Dory do? That’s what Dory’s friends say when they’re in a difficult situation because they admire Dory’s perseverance and courage to never give up. Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) is a blue tang fish who suffers from memory loss. However there is one thing that Dory remembers…how she became separated from her parents as a child. Now the adventure begins as Dory, Nemo and Marline embark on a journey to find Dory’s beloved parents. Finding Dory is the sequel to the 2003 film Finding Nemo.
Rating: 5 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: November 15, 2016
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 5+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
- This is a story about hope, friendship and love.
- There’s some action and adventure though a very simple and heartfelt film.
- The importance of family is highlighted throughout the film. In flashbacks we see the interaction of Dory with her parents. Her parents’ love and guidance is wonderfully portrayed.
- Dory has short term memory loss. When she gets lost from her parents she never gives up hope and recalls their encouraging words to never give up. In difficult situations Dory’s friends say, What would Dory do?” because they admire how she handles adversity.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Dory begins to discuss how babies are born though gets interrupted.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Mild
- We see a truck swerve in traffic and then crashes.
- A large squid attacks Marlin, Nemo and Dory then a large crate crashes on its head.
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Will Kids Like It? Yes
- I interviewed kids between the ages of 5 and 10. They loved the film, and were attentive and entertained throughout the movie.
Overall, Finding Dory is a wonderful animated film for the whole family.
Now You See Me 2-Teen Movie Review
Abracadabra… the Four Horseman are back! In this film the infamous illusionists magically find themselves in China. However, the group gets into some trouble as a sneaky tech wizard named Walter (Daniel Radcliffe) forces the magicians to steal a powerful chip that can control all of the worlds computers. Desperately wanting to get home, the group needs to perform their biggest magical act yet. Can they do it? Now You See Me 2 is a fun and entertaining action packed film.
Rating: 4 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: September 6, 2016
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Teens Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
Sexual Content: Mild
- We see a couple kiss.
- Woman wear revealing tops.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
- A character is punched-bloodied and bruised. He’s locked in a safe then they dump him into the ocean where he almost drowns.
- The Horseman are beaten and thrown out of a airplane.
- There are several characters shown on motorcycles. They fall off their bikes and tumble on the road.
- One of the magician’s performances is creepy. It appears as though the magician saws off her hand with a meat slicer.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- We hear the f-word once. We also hear “sh-t,” “h—,” “d–n” and “a–.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Characters are shown drinking a glass of champagne.
Will Teens Like It? Yes
Overall, Now You See Me 2 is a wonderful action packed film. Parents need to me aware of the moderate violence and language. Depending the child I recommend this for kids ages 12 and up.
Me Before You-Teen Movie Revew
Will Traynor (Sam Claflin) has a good life. He is an extremely athletic and handsome wealthy banker with a beautiful girlfriend. Though his life drastically changes the day he gets in an accident and he is paralyzed. Dealing with his difficult circumstances he becomes depressed, cynical and desperately wants to end his life. However, there is hope for Will when his parents hire Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) as his caregiver and companion. Louisa is a 26 year-old charming, bubbly woman who tries to show Will that life is worth living no matter what the situation. As Louisa and Will’s relationship deepens, Will continually wonders… is this life worth living? Based on JoJo Moyes’ 2012 novel, Me Before You is a heartfelt, romantic drama.
Rating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: August 30, 2016
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 13+
Sexual Content: Moderate
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Teens Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
Sexual Content: Moderate
- Louisa and her sister talk about an outfit being too “booby.”
- Louisa and Will passionately kiss.
- There are sexual jokes referring to a paralyzed person having sex.
- Prior to Will’s accident we see him in bed with his girlfriend. He’s shirtless, and we see her bare shoulders.
- There are sexual references to French gay porn, lap dances and oral sex.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
- There is the mature and disturbing subject matter of euthanasia.
- We see scars on one of Will’s wrists, it’s noted that he tried to commit suicide.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- We hear “h—,” “sh-t,” “a–,” “b–ch,” and “d–n.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- We see characters drinking beer and wine.
Will Teens Like It? Yes
- I interviewed a few pre-teen girls that had read the book and loved the movie.
Overall, this is a heartfelt drama. Parents need to be aware of the acceptance of euthanasia that the film portrays. Depending on the child this is appropriate for kids ages 13 and up.