Sci-Fi
Sci-Fi movie reviews
The Dark Tower-Kids Movie Review
Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor), a pre-teen boy, has very bad dreams at night. They’re so vivid and seem so real that when he wakes up he draws images of what he’s seen and puts them on a cork board in his room. He wants to figure out what these nightly terrors mean. His dreams are about a man in black who uses kids to try to destroy the world. There’s a Gunslinger who tries to stop him. Jake eventually realizes that his dreams are real; he meets the Gunslinger, Roland (Idris Elba), and he learns about the Dark Tower that protects the universe from monsters. He also learns that Walter (Matthew McConaughey), also known as the Man in Black, hopes to destroy the tower. The battle between good and evil begins as Jake and Roland try to save the world from the evil Man in Black. The Dark Tower is based on Stephen King’s Dark Tower book series.
Rating: 3 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: October 31, 2017
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 14+
Sexual Content: None
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? No
Talking Points:
Sexual Content: None
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- There’s a lot of guns and shooting. A boy learns to shoot a gun.
- Boys fight at school; punching and hitting one another.
- Character’s are shown stabbing with knives and hitting with heavy objects..
- A chunk of glass goes through a character’s hand. We see a lot of blood.
- There are explosions and earthquakes.
- We see drawings of scary and disturbing images.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- We hear “sh-t,” and “h–l.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- A character takes a handful of painkillers.
Will Kids Like It? No
Overall The Dark Tower is a dark sci/fi film. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence throughout the film.
War For The Planet Of The Apes-Kids’ Movie Review
Caesar (Andy Serkis), the intelligent leader of the apes, suffers a tremendous loss when his home is attacked by human soldiers. Sad and upset, Caesar moves his tribe to a new location though he briefly leaves the group to find the colonel responsible for the attack. Fortunately, Caesar is accompanied by close friends and while on their odyssey they come across some interesting characters. Caesar eventually finds the Colonel (Woody Harrelson), hoping to seek revenge. War for the Planet of the Apes is the third movie focusing on Caesar… the intelligent leader of the apes.
Rating: 3 and 1/2 buckets out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: October 24, 2017
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 Kids Like It? Maybe
Talking Points:
Sexual Content: None
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- The film is dark and creepy with a lot of violence. There are battles with guns, arrows, missiles and explosions throughout the film.
- Apes kill humans and battle with one other.
- We see injured characters and their bloody wounds.
- Apes are imprisoned, hung on X-shaped crosses, whipped and treated like slaves.
- A gorilla is suffocated.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- We hear “goddamn,” and “h-ll.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Maybe
Overall this is a dramatic sci/fi film that will most likely appeal to the Planet of the Apes fans.
Spider-Man: Homecoming-Kids’ Movie Review
Peter Parker (Tom Holland) was on cloud nine after his so called “internship” with Tony Stark/Iron Man ((Robert Downey Jr.) and his new role as Spider Man. When Peter returns home to his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) he tries to live a relatively normal life as a high school student. However, he is preoccupied with his Spider-Man identity and desperately wants to use his powers to save lives. The only problem is that Tony Stark hasn’t been in touch with Peter, and his assistant Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) doesn’t return Peter’s messages. Eventually, Peter decides to put on his suit and be the neighborhood superhero. He stops petty thieves, and even helps old ladies with directions. Peter’s life dramatically changes the night he catches some crooks stealing money from an ATM, and they have some very high tech and unusual weapons. Now Peter tries to find the villain who made the glowing and intense weapons and put his powers to the test. Spider-Man Homecoming is an entertaining film that will especially appeal to pre-teens and teens.
Rating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: October 17, 2017
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 10+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) is a father figure to Peter. Peter wants to wear his Spider Man suit and use his powers to help people. He tells Stark that he’s nothing without his suit. Tony says, “If you’re nothing without the suit, you shouldn’t have it.” Peter eventually learns what being a hero really means.
Sexual Content: Mild
- We see a couple of kisses.
- There’s a reference to watching porn.
- Teenagers are shown flirting with one another.
- There’s a suggestive comment made about Peter’s Aunt.
- Teen girls play a game called “F, marry, kill.”
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- We hear the f-word, “sh-t,” “a–,” “b–tard,” “d–n,” and “h—.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- A teen party shows kids drinking out of red Solo cups.
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Overall this is a fun and entertaining film for kids ages 10 and up.
Transformers: The Last Knight-Kids’ Movie Reviews
In Transformers: The Last Knight there is a war between humans and Transformers. Strangely, a large number of robots come crashing down on Earth which cause human authorities to be overwhelmed. The chaos is discovered due to the hidden history of Transformers on Earth. Autobot leader (the good guys), Optimus Prime, is gone but with the help of Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), Bumblebee, an English lord (Anthony Hopkins), and an Oxford professor (Laura Haddock), they work together to try and save the world. Transformers: The Last Knight is the fifth installment on the Transformers series.
Rating: 3 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: September 26, 2017
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
Sexual Content: Mild
- We only see one kiss, but there are a lot of racy jokes and innuendos about sex.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- There are a lot of battles and violence throughout the film. Characters (Transformer and humans) battle. We see several sword fights and gun fights. Characters are crushed and set on fire.
- There are numerous car chases which cause destruction.
- Robots destroy buildings with blasts and explosions. We see massive structures crash to Earth killing innocent bystanders.
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
- We hear the f-word twice and “sh-t, “b–ch,” “d–n,” “a–, and “h-ll” throughout the film.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
-
Characters are shown drinking alcohol and smoking.
Merlin is described as a drunkard. We see him drinking from a bottle.
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Overall this is an action packed film that will most likely appeal to pre-teen boys.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2-Kids’ Movie Reviews
The group of misfit Guardians are back. Peter Quill (aka Star Lord) with his “Awesome Mix Tape Vol 2”, Gamora, the green warrior, Drax, the blue muscleman, Groot, the little tree-like creature, and Rocket, the cute raccoon. In this film the Guardians are hired by a powerful alien race to protect their expensive batteries from invaders. However, things get complicated when it’s discovered that Rocket has stolen the precious items, and so the aliens want to seek revenge. As the Guardians try to escape, the mystery of Peter’s parentage is revealed. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is an action packed science fiction film for tweens and up.
Rating: 3. 5 out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: August 22, 2017
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Talking Points:
- As in the first film the characters are fun and entertaining. The soundtrack is great as well.
- In addition to all the violence there are messages stressing importance of helping others, family and friends.
Sexual Content: Mild
- It’s noted that Peter has been with several woman throughout the galaxy.
- There is sexual chemistry between Peter and Gamora. A woman states that Peter has sexual feelings for Gamora.
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
- There are fist fights and laser fights. Characters are hit, pounded to the ground, and skewered with arrows.
- There are massive explosions and numerous characters die.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- Groot is shown drinking alcoholic beverages..
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- We hear “sh-t,” “a–,” “d–n,” “h–,” and “d–k.”
Will Kids Like It? Yes
- I interviewed four teenage boys who loved the film. Their favorite character was Groot.
Overall this is a fun and entertaining film for tweens and up. Parents need to be aware of the science fiction action and violence throughout the film.