Reviews by Genre
Movie Reviews by Genre
Turbo-Kids Movie Review
Snails aren’t typically known for their speed, but that never stopped a misfit snail named Turbo. Turbo’s (voice of Ryan Reynold) life long dream was to race at the Indy 500, though an unrealistic goal. However, with hard work, perseverance, and an unexpected freak accident, Turbo’s dream was becoming a reality and a chance to race in one of the most prestigious motorsports in the world…The Indy 500. Turbo is a wonderful animated, suspenseful film for kids of all ages.
Rating: 5 out of 5 buckets.
Release Date: November 12, 2013
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 5+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will it Appeal to Kids? Yes
Talking Points:
Follow your dreams, never give up, and persevere; these positive messages are woven throughout the film…great parent/ child conversation!
Sexual Content: Mild
- A female racing snail flirts with Chet. She also makes reference to her “booty, ” (her shell).
Violent Content: Mild
- Crows snatch the snails and take them away. It’s implied that the snails will be eaten.
- An upset elderly woman attacks a man by hitting and kicking him.
- There is a big car crash at the Indy 500.
- During a race, a race car driver tries to hit Theo.
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
- We see character’s drinking out of brown bottles labeled, “lager.”
Will it Appeal to Kids? Yes
Overall Turbo is a wonderful film for kids. With the wonderful messages, action and suspense; most youngsters will enjoy this film.
Grown Ups 2
Lenny (Adam Sandler), Eric (Kevin James) and Kurt (Chris Rock) are back, and now all living in their hometown. However things get complicated when they come across old bullies, drugged bus drivers, drunk cops and preppie college lacrosse players. Though what’s most important to the gang, is they’re all together; the old buddies with their families, it doesn’t get much better than that!
Rating: 2 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets.
Release Date: November 5, 2013
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 11+
Sexual Content: Moderate
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Moderate
Will it Appeal to Kids? Yes
Talking Points:
Amongst all the raunchy scenes, the group of men are all loving husbands and fathers. They truly care for their familieswell being.
Lenny’s son was continually bullied, so when Lenny ran into his childhood bully, he eventually confronted him and wanted an apology. Lenny eventually taught his son the importance of standing up for himself.
The film is filled with disgusting, raunchy silly humor; to name a few; we see chocolate ice cream that appears to be excrement, a police officer urinates in a pool (the water turns blue), a guy falls asleep in a bus and kids put Cheetos up his nose (one which he removes and eats), and character’s vomit. One character loved the fact that he can burp, sneeze and pass gas, all in a row. There are also several diaper-related jokes.
Sexual Content: Moderate
- We see several woman in skimpy bikinis and other revealing outfits.
- A janitor pretends to be an aerobic instructor, only to see the woman’s breast jiggle.
- There’s a car wash scene where we see male and female cheerleaders washing cars, very seductively. The men rub their privates up against the cars, and they lick the soap off the vehicle.
- The four male, “grown ups,” are forced to jump off a cliff, naked. We see this from a distance.
- There are sexual comments and references made throughout the film. Comments include male and female body parts, masturbation, erections and gay sex.
- A married woman jokingly asks if she can put her tongue down another man’s throat.
Violent Content: Moderate
- There was a huge slap stick, goofy fight amongst the frat boys and townspeople. Character’s were kicked, punched, stomped on and even hit by a beer keg.
- Nick, the drugged up bus driver, was continually abused. He was hung upside down in a bus, then fell and slid all around.
- One character rolled down a street in a giant tire; he hit several things while rolling, and was continually being hit.
- A character’s teenage son was mean and creepy. He wanted to hurt his dad, and other kids.
- A man pepper sprays himself.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- We hear “sh-t,” “d‑‑n,” “h‑‑‑,” “b‑‑ch” and “d‑‑k.” A father refers to his son as “fugly.”
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Moderate
- College students are shown drinking a lot, and some very drunk.
- Two high schoolers are given beer, they pretend to drink the beers to fit in; however they pour the alcohol out.
- We see adults drinking at a party.
Will it Appeal to Kids? Yes
Overall Grown Ups 2 is a raunchy movie, which isn’t even that funny. Parents need to be aware of the sexual references and jokes throughout the film. Depending on the kid, this film may appeal it kids ages 11 and up.
The Lone Ranger-Teen Movie Review
The Lone Ranger riding his horse Silver with the William Tell Overture playing in the background…sound familiar? The Lone Ranger is based on the popular Western from the 1930’s radio show, which eventually became a popular TV program in the 40’a and 50’s. In the movie, Tonto (Johnny Depp), an American Indian spirit warrior, tells the untold tales of how John Reid (Armie Hammer) becomes a man of justice, a legend, and a hero… a man known as the Lone Ranger.
Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: December 17, 2013
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will it Appeal to Teenagers? Yes
Talking Points:
The Lone Ranger is an iconic figure known as a righteous man of character. Since the popular TV show in the 40’s and 50’s, he’s stood for justice and doing the right thing.
The last battle in the film was exciting and moving; with the Lone Ranger riding his horse while the William Tell Overture was playing in the background. Fans will love that scene.
Since this film is produced by Walt Disney Picture, and remembering the popular western on TV, people may assume that this is a kids movie. However, parents need to be aware of the excessive and disturbing violence. Having said that, there are also some funny, slapstick violent scenes woven throughout the film.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Tonto is a regular at a house of ill-repute.
- We see women wearing low cut dresses.
Violent Content: Excessive
- We see hundreds of gruesome deaths; characters are killed by gun shots, stabbed and blown up by explosions.
- We see a man coughing up blood, then an evil character stabs him to death.
- A large log falls on two guys heads, killing them both.
- We see scorpions crawl on two character’s faces; their bodies are buried in the sand, and only their heads are exposed.
- Character’s brawl, we see their scars and bloody wounds.
- Characters are thrown off trains.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- We hear “d-mn,” and “h–.”
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
- We see character’s drinking in a bar, some very drunk.
- One character continually drank whiskey out of the bottle.
Will it Appeal to Teenagers? Yes
Overall The Lone Ranger is a wonderful action packed film with a great storyline and great characters. However, parents need to be aware of the excessive and disturbing violence throughout the film. Depending on the kid, I recommend this for kids ages 12 and up.
Despicable Me 2-Kids Movie Reviews
Gru (voice of Steve Carell), his three adopted daughters, and the beloved minions are back in this sequel to the popular 2010 movie Despicable Me. Now we see Gru as a loving father, not the evildoer who wanted to steal the moon. However, problems occur when Gru is asked to track down an evil felon. Initially he’s not sure he wants to fight crime, though when partnered with the beautiful agent Lucy Wilde (voice of Kristen Wiig) he changes his mind; after all his girls have been wanted him to date more. Despicable Me 2 is a wonderful animated film for the whole family.
Rating: 4 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: December 10, 2013
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 5+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will it Appeal to Kids? Yes
Talking Points:
There are endearing messages about the value of family. Gru was once a mean, unhappy man, but with the adoption of his 3 daughters, he turned into a caring and loving father.
Despicable Me 2 is very entertaining; it has a great storyline, fun music and interesting characters. It will appeal to young kids as well as pre-teens and even teenagers.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Gru and Lucy kiss.
Violent Content: Moderate
- There is a lot of slapstick violence with characters bonking heads, zapping each other, and stumbling into one another.
- Minions hit each other with clubs and mace.
- A rabbit turns into a large monster and attacks a lab technician.
- A group of minions were given a drug, they also turned into monsters running all over the place.
Crude or Profane Language:Mild
- Potty words are said such as; “poop,” and “butt.”
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
- A character is knocked out from a “moose tranquilizer” dart.
- A character drinks tequila spiked with snake venom.
Will it Appeal to Kids? Yes
Over Despicable Me 2 is a fun, entertaining movie for kids of all ages, parents will like it too!
White House Down-Teen Movie Review
John Cale (Channing Tatum) is a Capitol policeman in pursuit of his dream job…Secret Service Agent! There was one problem, John didn’t do that well in the military or get the best grades in college, so he didn’t get the job. After getting rejected, John and his young daughter, Emily, got a tour of the White House. Things started out great, especially since Emily was so enamored with politics and the President, however while on the tour a group of paramilitary invaders bombed the rotunda, killing a lot of innocent people. Now it was up to John to rescue his daughter and save the President from the awful attack. White House Down is an action packed movie one that teenagers will most likely enjoy.
Rating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: November 4, 2013
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 11+
Sexual Content: None
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will it Appeal to Teenagers? Yes
Talking Points:
John is a great character, he risks his life to help others.
There was an all-star cast, to name a few; Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx and Maggie Gyllenhall.
Sexual Content: None
Violent Content: Excessive
- Initially we see a terrorist acting as a janitor. He blows up the Capital, killing a lot of innocent people.
- The bad guys are precise in their attack. Scores of guards, soldiers, secret service and civilians die during the attack.
- There are explosions as several building blow up.
- The attacker is cruel and evil. He held a lot of people hostage in the White House. A young girl gets slapped and held at gun point by the terrorist.
- There are brawls amongst innocent people and the attackers.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- The f-word is said once. We also heard, “d–n,” “b–ch,” h–l” and “a–.”
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
- We see a character drinking an alcoholic beverage.
Will it Appeal to Teenagers? Yes
Overall White House Down is an action packed film. Depending on the kid, I recommend this film for kids ages 11 and up. However, parents need to be aware of the violent content.