Sci-Fi
Sci-Fi movie reviews
Goosebumps-Kids’ Movie Review
Moving to a new city can be difficult, especially for a teenage boy whose father had just passed away. Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) is upset about moving from New York City to a small town in Delaware. Though things quickly change when Zach meets his beautiful new neighbor, Hannah (Odeya Rush). Zach discovers that Hannah’s father is R. L. Stine (Jack Black), the author of the bestselling “Goosebumps” series. Things get exciting when Zach accidentally releases the monsters from R. L. Stine’s novels. Now Zach’s boring small town becomes an adventurous city. Goosebumps is a thrilling Halloween film, especially for pre-teens.
Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: January 26, 2016
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
R. L. Stine, known as the “Stephen King of children’s literature,” is an author that kids and tweens are very familiar with. Goosebumps is a creative film, one that will most likely appeal to Stine’s fans. Parents need to be aware of the violent parts that will scare young kids.
Sexual Content: Mild
- A teenage couple kiss.
- Innocent flirting.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- The first monster to escape is the Abominable Snowman. He destroys an ice rink’s scoreboard, a Zamboni and a vending machine. He chases some teenagers as well.
- We see close-up of snarling werewolves, which may scare youngsters.
- A werewolf chases a group of teenagers through a grocery store.
- A praying mantis grabs a boy through a school window. Later we see him in a neck brace.
- Humans fight with ceramic gnomes, smashing them to the ground.
- A monster closes a typewriter case on Stine’s finger, breaking most of them.
- Aliens freeze most of the townspeople.
- We see a group of half-decomposed zombies at a cemetery.
- A group of monsters attend a high school dance, scaring the students.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- “H—,” said once.
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Will Kids like it? Yes
Overall this is a fun, though scary, Halloween film. Great for tweens who like scary movies.
Goosebumps-Kids’ Movie Review
Pan-Kids’ Movie Review
How did Peter Pan, the mischievous boy who could fly, come to be? Peter (Levi Miller) is a 12- year-old boy living in a dark and dreary orphanage in London. He has some good friends at the orphanage, though the nuns are cruel and unkind to the boys, so he is miserable. Then one night Peter’s life drastically changes as he’s swept away into a whole new world…Neverland. There Peter meets new friends and has many new adventures as he must rescue the town from the ruthless Pirate Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman). It’s also in Neverland where Peter becomes the hero known as Peter Pan. Pan is the prequel to the beloved story about a magical boy who can fly…Peter Pan.
Rating: 4 out of 5 popcorn buckets.
Release Date: December 22, 2015
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids’ Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
Sexual Content: Mild
- Hook flirts with Tiger Lilly.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- German fighter planes bomb homes and buildings.
- We see Peter living in a dreary orphanage. The boys are verbally abused by nuns.
- Flying pirate ships crash.
- Vicious birds attack children and adults.
- Children are kidnapped by pirates and forced to mine for fairy dust
- A boy almost drowns by being dragged under water by a gigantic crocodile.
- Blackbeard is a cruel and evil villain, who will most likely scare young kids.
- Tiger Lilly gets into fights with several men as they manhandle her and slam her to the ground.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- “H—,” is said a couple of times
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Blackbeard uses a device to inhale pixie dust so he can restore his youth.
Will Kids Like It: Yes
Overall Pan is a fantasy adventure; depending on the child it’s appropriate for kids ages 10 and up. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence throughout the film.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials-Kids’ movie review
In this second movie of The Maze Runner trilogy Thomas and his fellow teenage Gladers are finally rescued from the maze trials. However, now they have a whole new set of challenges. The teenagers get involved with a powerful organization called WCKD, and the teens end up in the Scorch- a desolate wasteland filled with dangerous obstacles and virus infected zombies. Now Thomas and company are on a mission to escape the Scorch and find the group who can help them fight against WCKD. Based on a young adult novel, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is an action packed sci-fi movie.
Rating: 3 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: December 15, 2015
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? Yes
Talking Points:
- Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) is a great leading character. He’s a good friend and a great role model. The teens look up to him and appreciate his leadership skills.
- The film is dark as it is set in a dystopian society. See violent content below.
Sexual Content: Mild
- There’s a nightclub scene where woman are dancing seductively. Music is playing while we see two of the teens under the influence of an unknown liquid; which they were forced to drink.
- We see a couple passionately kiss.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- The Cranks, deformed zombie-like creatures, kill and destroy humans.
- When victims are infected with a rampant disease called Flare, we see their bloody wounds and their blackened skin covered with the disease.
- There are several fights and battles throughout the film. Thomas and the other teens fight the zombie-like creatures, and the zombies fight one another. Teens are beaten, shot, and killed.
- We see a man tied up and severely beaten.
- Unconscious teens are shown hanging upside down in a laboratory with tubes pumping fluid out of their bodies.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- We hear “sh-t,” “a–,” “b–ch,” “d–n,” “h—,” and “b–tard” throughout the film.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Teens are forced to drink a liquid that leaves them physically and mentally impaired.
- Drugs are administered to people to stop the progression of the rampant disease.
Will Teens Like It? Yes
- I interviewed several pre-teens who really liked the movie. They had read the book and loved the book to movie transition.
Overall this is a very dark and violent film. Parents need to be aware of the excess violence throughout the film.
Fantastic Four-Kids’ Movie Review
Kids do all sorts of activities growing up whether it be sports, music or kick ball in the back yard. However, Reed Richards (Miles Teller) is not your typical kid; he does scientific experiments in his garage. As Reed becomes a teenager he and three other kids use one of his inventions and teleport to an alternate universe where their physical form changes drastically. Now the four, A.K.A. Fantastic Four, must use their new skills and work together to save the Earth from an evil enemy. Fantastic Four is based on a fictional superhero team published by Marvel Comics.
Rating: 2 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: December 15, 2015
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 13+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drug and Alcohol Content: Moderate
Will Teens Like It? No
Talking Points:
The film has an all-star cast, to name a few; Miles Teller, Kate Mara and Michael B. Jordan (from Friday Night Lights). Having said that the film is slow in parts and somewhat depressing.
Sexual Content: Mild
- We see a character crawling through an air duct- naked. However, we primarily see him waist up.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- Characters are shown on fire, smothered by an avalanche, their flesh burned and blistered, and legs crushed.
- As the characters develop their superpowers one of the four turns Hulk-like. He smashes other characters, burns them and destroys them.
- We see character’s cut and injured; covered in blood.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- We hear “d-ck,” “a–, “sh-t,” “h—,” and “d–n.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: Moderate
- Three of the main character’s are shown drunk while passing a flask around.
Will Teens Like It? No
- I interviewed several pre-teens who thought the movie was slow, dark and depressing.
Overall Fantastic Four is an action packed sci/fi film. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence throughout the movie.
Inside Out-Kids’ Movie Review
We all want our children to be happy, but as we know there are ups and downs in life which causes temporary sadness. Riley is a happy 11 year-old girl living in Minnesota. She is a star hockey player, does well in school, and has a great group of friends. However, everything changes when her dad gets a new job, and the family moves to San Francisco. We see her struggle as the film centers on the five emotions that guide her life: Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. These emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley’s mind, where they advise her daily life. Things get complicated as her emotions disagree on how to handle all the changes she’s going through. They eventually realize that Joy might not be the emotion Riley needs during her difficult time.
Rating: 4 and 1/2 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: November 3, 2015
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 8+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
- This is a very cleaver and thought provoking film, one that will spark numerous parent/child conversations. The film highlights the fact that it’s okay to be sad at times, and that we can’t be happy all the time. {Spoiler Alert} During the film we want the character, Joy, to be in Riley’s life- not Sadness. However we eventually realize that Sadness is the hero in the film. With Sadness, Riley is allowed to grieve and then move on to a better life.
- The importance of family is another element in the film. When Riley is depressed and down, it’s her parents that comfort her and lift her spirits.
- This is a PG animated film which will target young kids. However, there are some sad and emotional parts that parents need to be aware of. When Riley’s world changes, she’s very down and depressed; this may be upsetting to some sensitive kids.
- Riley steals her mom’s credit card and attempts to run away from home.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Riley imagines herself with a boyfriend who dramatically says, “I would die for Riley.”
- Riley talks to a boy, and we see inside his mind where the controllers are freaking out .
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
- There is a dark and somewhat disturbing tone to the film. {Spoiler Alert} However, in the end you realize that’s a critical part to the storyline and that it’s okay to be sad at times.
- We see Riley’s dreams: one has a growling dog running around. She’s also haunted by a dead mouse in a dream.
- Riley’s “train of thought” derails. We see characters flying off the train.
- When characters enter into a danger zone we see their bodies become distorted.
Crude or Profane Language: None
- There is a discussion on the use of curse words, but we don’t hear any.
Drug and Alcohol Content: None
Will Kids Like It? Yes
- I interviewed two kids ages four and six. The four year girl got bored and antsy, while the six year old boy liked it and thought it was funny in parts.
- Two 13 year old girls loved it and said, “It was amazing.”
Overall, this is another wonderful Pixar film. Parents need to be aware of the mature storyline which has some sad and emotional parts to it. Depending on the child, I recommend this film for kids ages 8 and up.