Reviews by Genre
Movie Reviews by Genre
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2 Review
All good things must come to an end, and sadly this is the final movie of the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2 continues right where the first part left off; so if you can’t remember part 1, you may want to refresh your memory before seeing part 2. The movie starts off with Harry, Ron and Hermione continuing their mission of finding and destroying Lord Voldemort’s three remaining Horcruxes; (the magical items that carry pieces of Voldemort’s soul). As they are gradually destroying these mysterious items, Voldemort senses their plan, and is more determined than ever to put and end to Harry Potter. That’s when the final battle begins….the war between good vs. evil. This eighth and final movie is an amazing, adventurous film, one that Harry Potter fans won’t want to miss.
Rating: Five out of five buckets
Release Date: November 11, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Talking Points:
Without getting too deep, I just want to make note of the biblical references in this film. There are elements of sacrifice, resurrection and redemption as part of the movie. Kids probably won’t get this, but teenagers might. On the way home my daughter and I were discussing the symbolism of the serpent in the movie, comparing it to the serpent in the Book of Genesis from the bible.
As in all the Harry Potter movies there’s a a constant theme of courage, friendship and loyalty. Harry, Ron and Hermione stuck together through many uncomfortable and dangerous situations throughout the series.
Sexual Content: Mild
- There’s a passionate kiss between two characters.
Violent Content: Excessive
- This movie is dark and creepy. There’s a constant battle between Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter, with many intense battle scenes.
- Voldemort may scare kids with his viscous demeanor and evil ways.
- There are monsters and scary creatures which may frighten some kids.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- Maybe a couple of swear words, but not much.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (the first movie in the series) came out November 2001, just two months after 9/11. These movies have been a big part of people’s lives of all ages. Whether you read the books, saw the movies, dressed up as your favorite character for Halloween, or just heard all the talk about wizards and magic, Harry Potter will be missed. Bring a kleenex as you say goodbye.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Review
The main story line of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is the gathering storm. Voldemort and his allies are building their power and Dumbledore, with Harry’s help are trying to turn the tide.
Rating: Five out of five buckets
Release Date: December 8, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 8+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Talking Points:
The visual effects are as always, very compelling.
I also read the that this film is the best, most satisfying book-to-film transfer of them all. Though I heard the ending is slightly different.
There are great side stories in this film:
- Harry obtains a potions book that once belonged to the mysterious Half-Blood Prince. Harry is thrilled when he realizes that the Half-Blood Prince’s notes are written along the margins of the pages, which gives Harry great advice on how to improve his spells.
- Malfoy behaves suspiciously during the whole movie, and Harry is determined to find out what Malfoy is up to.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Romance is in the air. I read in a review that this film could’ve been called Harry Potter and the Opera of Soap. Hermoine realizes that she likes Ron, but he starts dating someone else, and she wants to make him jealous. Harry has an admirer, but he likes Ginny. Throughout the movie we see these couples hug, kiss and snuggle in the hallways. These romances are very entertaining, and add a lot of humorous parts to the movie, which I didn’t find as much in 1 -5.
Violent Content: Moderate
- There’s moderate violence, and disturbing parts.
- Ron drinks poison and starts to foam at the mouth.
- Malfoy kicks Harry in the face, and breaks his nose.
- Harry and Dumbledore fight with zombies, and Harry almost drowns.
- Death Eaters destroy a bridge, killing many people.
- Dumbeldore slices his hand with a knife and wipes his blood on a stone to help enter into a cavern. Then once he’s in the cavern he has to drink a special potion which is very painful.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- The d-word and h-word are used.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Character drink alcohol and a magical potion.
Overall this movie, like the first 5 movies, is a very clever, and well constructed fantasy movie. These well liked wizards continue to do an amazing job of capturing the hearts of not only children, but adults as well. I give it 5 buckets.
Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix Review
As Harry’s fifth year at Hogwarts begins in The Order of the Phoenix, he is shunned by many of his schoolmates. No one believes him regarding Voldemort’s return. One of the great subplots in this movie is that the Minister of Magic thinks that Dumbledore is out for the minister’s job so he sends Dolores Umbridge to the school as a professor. She’s mean and awful but she covers it up with a happy smile and a pink wardrobe and causes all sorts of trouble for Harry and his friends.
Rating: Five out of five buckets.
Release Date: December 11, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: MIld
Talking Points:
Like the 4th movie, this movie is also rated PG13. In this movie Harry prepares for his darkest year ever dealing with the evil wizard, Lord Voldermort. Due to violence and a scary plot, it may frighten some kids. Depending on the child, this movie is best suited for kids ages 10 and up.
Not being a Harry Potter fan until a few weeks ago, I have thoroughly enjoyed the Harry Potter series so far, and can’t wait to read the books. If your kids like fantasy, action movies, with mild to moderate violence, it’s a fun family escape into a different world. I give the Harry Potter movies 1 – 5, five buckets!
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Review
In the Goblet of Fire, Harry is entering his 4th year at Hogwarts. Hoping for a quiet year of school, Harry reunites with his friends at Hogwarts. When he arrives at school Dumbledore announces that Hogwarts will host the Triwizard Tournament, one of the most exciting and dangerous of the magical competitions. Harry Potter along with Cedric Diggory(Robert Pattinson) are selected from Hogwarts. Now Harry must deal with not only schoolwork, but the difficult tournament and also a little teen romance.
Rating: Five out of five buckets
Release Date: October 19, 2010
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Talking Points:
This movie is rated PG 13. The film is more violent, and has a scarier plot than the others. We see the evil Lord Voldemort fully return in this movie and kill a student which may scare kids. This film is appropriate for kids ages 10 and up, with parental guidance due to the violent images.
Happy Feet 2 Review
Have you ever seen your child being bullied? Well Mumble, The Master of Tap, saw his son Erik being bullied, because he couldn’t dance. Feeling depressed and lonely, Erik ran away, and came across The Mighty Sven, a penguin who could fly. Erik’s father, Mumble, may have been a good dancer, but he could not fly, and he certainly could not compete with Erik’s new role model, Sven. However, when a massive iceberg broke and slammed into the emperor penguins’ bay; the penguins were trapped. So then Mumble, Erik and friends had to rescue the victims. Happy Feet Two is an entertaining fun movie for kids of all ages.
Rating: 3 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: March 13, 2012
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: Any age
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: None
See a clip of my review here, plus the Breaking Dawn review!
Talking Points:
At some point in our lives we may have experienced what it’s like not to fit in. Mumble desperately wanted to let Erik know that he will eventually fit in, and make his contribution to the world. This could spark a good parent-child conversation.
The movie is filled with great messages for youngsters to hear. In one scene Erik sang a song about how his father had inspired him to keep striving to make a difference, even if things seemed impossible. Another great parent/child conversation.
The music was fun and entertaining in the film. Kids in the theater were dancing in their seats; they had happy feet too!
I never saw the first Happy Feet movie, and I really enjoyed this movie, though it was about a half an hour too long. I noticed the kids in the theater were getting antsy too.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Two male characters had affection for each other. This could spark a conversation with your kids.
- One character said, “I’d never have an egg with you.”
Violent Content: Mild
- Penguins formed an ice ramp to try and fly out of the hole they were trapped in; it didn’t work, but they kept trying, though they fell to the ground each time.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- They said, “fluff” instead of the f-word…”fluff off.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Overall Happy Feet Two is an entertaining, heartwarming film with a message of the importance of love, acceptance, and determination. Appropriate for any age!