Sci-Fi
Sci-Fi movie reviews
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-Kids Movie Review
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is centered around the lives of four six-foot tall talking turtles…Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Leonardo, all of whom are named after famous Renaissance figures. These lovable teenage turtles live in the sewers below New York City, and were properly raised by a man-sized rat named Splinter. The turtles and Splinter have a nice quiet life in their home, however things change when the turtles and rat get involved with a news correspondent named April O’Neil (Megan Fox). As April is trying to break a story about a gang robbery, she eventually comes to realize that there are evil villains trying to destroy New York City. Now it’s up to the four turtles, the rat and the beautiful newscaster to save The Big Apple.
Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: December 16, 2014
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 8+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Will it Appeal to kids/ teens? Yes
Talking Points:
It’s noted in the film that the turtles were raised to be hardworking and honorable teenage creatures. This could spark a good parent/child conversation.
Kids were at the edge of their seats watching the action and adventure of the lovable turtles.
Sexual Content: Mild
- One of the turtles makes a comment about April saying, “She’s so hot I can feel my shell tightening.”
Violent Content: Excessive
- Character’s are shot, kicked, thrown around, and brutally beaten.
- Villains abuse and torture Splinter and the turtles with jolts of electricity. They’re also beaten, stabbed and shot.
- A character is covered with toxins, we see his burned and oozing skin as he slowly dies.
- As one of the turtles is beaten, his shell is almost cracked open.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- “A–,” is said, “stupid,” and “numbnuts.”
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
- The turtles are injected with mutagens.
Will it Appeal to kids/teens? Yes
- I interviewed two 9 year old boy who said they loved the action and suspense.
Overall Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a fun action packed film for kids. Having said that, parents need to be aware of the excessive violence in the movie. Depending on the child, this is appropriate for kids 8 and up.
Guardians of the Galaxy- Kids Movie Review
A talking raccoon, a tree-like creature, Drax the Destroyer, an assassin named Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and a smooth talking, handsome guy from Earth named Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), are the Guardians of the Galaxy. They are a group of misfits who all want to make some money by selling a strange metallic orb. However when they discover that the orb is a dangerous weapon, they eventually come to realize that they must keep it away from the evil Ronan. Ronan is a powerful villain who threatens to destroy the universe. Now it’s up to this odd group of characters to save the world and be the Guardians of their Galaxy.
Rating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5
Release Date: December 9, 2014
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Will it Appeal to kids/ teens? Yes
Talking Points:
The film has a great mix of action/adventure and comedy. Though there are a lot of violent scenes, the characters are funny and entertaining. A great soundtrack as well, with a sentimental element to it.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Peter flirts with Gamora and tries to kiss her, though she wants no part of that. She even tells him not to use his “pelvis magic” on her.
Violent Content: Excessive
- Humans and aliens are punched, kicked, shot, stabbed, choked and blown up. Sometimes they’re serious, sometimes they’re silly.
- Buildings are smashed and destroyed by explosions.
- We see little critters eaten by larger animals.
- When character’s hold a certain weapon, we see their insides burn up and their skin flakes off.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- The f-word is said once, we also hear “a–,” “sh-t,” “p–ck,” “d–k,” “b–ch,” “b–tard,” “d–n,” and “h–.”
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
- Character’s are shown drinking alcoholic beverages.
Will it Appeal to kids/teens? Yes
- I interviewed two 14 year old girls and a 9 year old boy who loved the film. They thought it was funny and said it was, “The best Marvel film yet.”
Overall this is a fun action packed entertaining film. Having said that, parents need to be aware of the excessive violence. Depending on the child this is appropriate for kids ages 10 and up.
Hercules-Kids Movie Review
Hercules (Dwayne Johnson), the son of Zeus, and his five mercenary companions are traveling in Greece on a mission for more gold. They want one more payday so they can retire and enjoy life. The gang finally get their big break when the princess from the kingdom of Thrace approaches Hercules. She asks for help to restore peace to her father’s kingdom, as it’s in grave danger from the wicked Rhesus. Now Hercules and his cohorts have a job to fulfill, they need to save a kingdom and restore peace to all.
Rating: 2 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: November 5, 2014
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Will it Appeal to teens? No
Talking Points:
Hercules is a good guy. Though strong and powerful, he doesn’t want all the attention and glory. He says, “I only want to be a husband and father.”
Dwayne Johnson has been in a lot of kids movies, he even won “Favorite Male Buttkicker Award at the 2013 Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards.” Since the film stars Johnson, kids may find it appealing, however Hercules is very violent and deals with the mature subject of loved ones dying. Something parents should be aware of before sending their kids to this movie.
Sexual Content: Mild
- In a flashback, we see Hercules’ mother wearing a transparent dress; the audience sees her breasts.
- Hercules’ wife is shown naked with her clothes on the floor. We see her back side.
Violent Content: Excessive
- There are numerous deaths, characters killed by arrows, spears, swords, falling statues and other strange weapons.
- We see bloody corpses covering battle fields.
- A character rubs his finger around a corpses lips, then licks the blood off his finger.
- Hercules kills several characters with his powerful club.
- We see Hercules kill a large boar, a lion and a multi-headed hydra.
- There are brutal flashbacks of Hercules’ wife and kids being killed, they’re shown covered in blood.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- The f-word is said once, we also hear “sh-t,” “b–tard,” and “h–l.”
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
- Characters are shown drinking in a tavern.
- Someone drinks wine, that supposedly is spiked with a drug.
Will it Appeal to teens? No
Overall this is an action packed, violent film. Having said that, it may not interest kids as the storyline is slow and boring. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence throughout the film.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes-Teen Movie Review
Man vs. apes!! A group of genetically evolving apes come into contact with some humans who had survived a deadly virus, which had destroyed most of humanity ten years prior. As the humans and apes try to get along, they eventually realize that with anger and mistrust, things aren’t that easy as they had thought. Both sides and are now on the brink of a war to determine who will be the Earth’s dominant species…Man or Ape?
Rating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: December 2, 2014
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Will it Appeal to teens? Yes
Talking Points:
There are some wonderful heartwarming messages. Caesar (the ape) continually stresses the importance of getting along and avoiding conflict. The film highlights the importance of a happy and loving family.
The film is very dark and violent…with several battles, which may scare kids.
Sexual Content: None
Violent Content: Extensive
- There are intense and dark man-ape battle scenes, with gunfire and swords.
- A group of apes are crushed by a bus.
- An ape village is set on fire destroying both men and apes.
- Apes hurt innocent humans by grabbing them, slamming them to the ground and throwing them into cages.
- Two men are shot at, point blank by an ape.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- The f-word is said once. We also hear; “sh-t,” “a–,” “b–ch,” and “h—.”
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
- We see a character smoking a cigarette.
- Men are shown drinking alcohol.
Will it Appeal to teens? Yes
Overall this is an action packed movie, parents need to be aware of the excessive violence throughout the film. Depending on the child this Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is appropriate for kids ages 10 and up.
Transformers: Age Of Extinction-Teen Movie Review
Where is Optimus Prime? That’s the big question, as the CIA and Technology tycoon Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci) are desperately searching for the leader of the Autobots, a.k.a. the good guy Transformers. However, Cade Yeagar (Mark Wahlberg) knows where the beloved robot is. Cade runs a robotic repair shop in Texas. He was repairing an old truck, hoping to fix it up and give to his daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz). Though Tessa never got the truck, the truck started to talk and move, the truck became…Optimus Prime! Now the action and adventure begins for Cade, Tessa and her boyfriend Shane (Jack Reynor) as they become involved in a war of good vs. evil.
Rating: 3 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: September 30, 2014
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Extensive
Crude or Profane Language: Extensive
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Will it Appeal to teens? Yes
Talking Points:
I liked the father/daughter relationship in the film. Initially Tessa gives her boyfriend all the credit for rescuing her, however she eventually comes to realize that her father is the true hero in her life!
The film is action packed, and humorous in parts, having said that it is way too long…165 minutes! I noticed kids in the theater getting fidgety after two hours.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Two characters kiss.
Violent Content: Excessive
- Cade and his daughter Tessa are beaten and thrown to the ground by the black ops team. They also threaten to blow Tessa’s brains out while pointing a gun to her head.
- Characters are beaten, punched, smashed and thrown through windows.
- Robots beat humans.
- There are gun shots, explosions and disasters throughout the film.
- Gigantic Dinobots destroy the town with their spiked tails and long teeth.
- Mechanical dogs attack characters.
- An alien space craft destroys buildings, vehicles and railroad cars.
- Transformers are brutally beaten, decapitated and blown to shreds.
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
- The f-word is said. We also here “sh-t,” “a–,” “h—,” “b–ch,” “d–n,” and “b-tard.”
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
- Tessa and her high school friends discuss “getting wasted” after graduation.
- We see Cade drinking a beer.
Will it Appeal to kids/ teens? Yes
- I interviewed two boys, 8 and 13 years old. The 8 year old boy liked the film a lot, but thought it was too long. The 13 year old loved the action and the Dinobots. The film held his attention the whole time. Neither boy was scared. I interviewed there father as well, who liked the film but thought there were too many swear words.
Overall this is an action packed, entertaining film…though too long!!! Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence and profane language throughout the film. Depending on the child, I recommend this for kids ages 10 and up.