kids movie review

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.

Neighbors-Teen Movie Review

Mac(Seth Rogen) and Kelly Radner(Rose Byrne) are pursuing the American dream! They saved money, bought a house, and started a family. Life is good!!! However, things change when they discover who’s moving next door…Delta Psi Beta! Initially the Radners want to play it cool with the young frat boys; they meet the president of the fraternity, Teddy (Zac Efron), they bring over a tin of marijuana joints, and they even end up joining the party. After a night of socializing and “bonding” with their new neighbors Mac and Kelly feel it’s okay to complain about the noise; after all they do have a 6-month old daughter. However, things aren’t that easy and before you know it the Radners will do whatever it takes to get their loud and obnoxious neighbors to move.

Rating: 1 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: September 23, 2014
MPAA Rating: R
Best Age Group: 17+
Sexual Content: Excessive
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
Drugs and Alcohol: Excessive
Will it Appeal to kids/teens? No

Talking Points:

Believe it or not there is an endearing message in the film. The college party life is fun at the time, but marriage and raising a family, (though trying at times) is as good as it gets!!!

There are some very humorous parts, however there are many raunchy and crude scenes as well.

Sexual Content: Excessive

Multiple sexual scenes show graphic movements. Though the characters are naked, we mostly see their back sides.
During the opening seen we see Mac and Kelly in a sexual encounter, with their baby watching.
Kelly’s breast pump breaks and she is desperately needing to nurse, so Kelly insists that Mac “milk” her.
There are crude sexual references regarding male and female body parts, masturbation, sexual diseases and much more.
The fraternity boys need to raise money so they make dildos from their own anatomy, and sell them.
During the hazing process, frat boys are shown naked walking around in a circle, bent over.
Mac and Kelly’s baby swallows a condom.

Violent Content: Mild

There are several fights which include kicking, punching and hitting.
Two frat boys get into a fight while grabbing and squeezing each others crotch.

Crude or Profane Language: Excessive

The f-word “d–n,” “a–,” “h–l,” “d–,” “b–ch,” and other words referring to body parts, were said throughout the film.

Drugs and Alcohol: Excessive

Alcoholic beverages are consumed throughout the film, especially in the fraternity.
We see characters smoking marijuana.
Mac is shown eating a bag of mushrooms.

Will it Appeal to kids/teens? No

Older teens and adults in their twenties will most likely find the film entertaining. I’ve heard that several middle school aged kids want to see this film, it may not appeal to them and is definitely not appropriate for that age.

Overall this is a funny, but very raunchy and inappropriate film. Neighbors is R rated, which means that kids under 17 must be accompanied by an adult or guardian.

Transcendence-Teen Movie Review

Technology is a wonderful thing, but can it go too far? In Transcendence, Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is a famous, though controversial, researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Things get difficult for this bright scientist when an anti-technology organization fights to prevent him from going too far.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Release Date: July 22, 2014
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 15+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Will it Appeal to kids? No

Talking Points:

Transcendence is an interesting and captivating film. Having said that, it gets confusing and may not appeal to kids or teens.

The film could spark some great conversations regarding the advancement of technology.

Sexual Content: Mild

In a dream we see a couple passionately kissing in bed.

Violent Content: Excessive

A bomb explodes in a lab and kills numerous people.
Characters are punched, kicked and brutally beaten.
We see injured characters with open wounds covered with blood.
A needle is injected into a blind man’s eye.

Crude or Profane Language: Mild

“Sh-t,” and “h–l,” are used.

Drugs and Alcohol: Mild

We see characters drinking beer and wine.

Will it Appeal to kids? No

Overall this is an interesting film, though may not appeal to kids/teens. Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence and dark theme.

Need For Speed-Kids Movie Review

Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul), a former race car driver and blue-collar mechanic, owns a garage in upstate New York where he and his friends tune performance cars. Dealing with financial concerns, Tobey desperately wants to save his struggling garage, so he partners with his former rival Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper). Dino is a very wealthy, but wicked, ex-NASCAR driver who makes Tobey a deal he can’t refuse. However, problems occur during a disastrous race when Dino frames Tobey for manslaughter. After Tobey serves two years in prison, he desperately wants to seek revenge, and race against his arch-nemesis… Dino Brewster. Based on the very popular video game series, Need For Speed is an action packed, suspenseful film where you’ll be at the edge of your seat!!!

Rating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: August 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 kids? Yes

Talking Points:

There are no life lessons or inspirational aspects to the film. However, it’s an exciting action packed movie with fun and entertaining characters!

The movie is very unrealistic and hopefully kids will take it for what it is; a fictional movie! There’s even a disclaimer in the closing credits stating, “DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS!”

Sexual Content: Mild

One of Tobey’s friends quits his office job. So thrilled to be leaving, he strips down to his socks as he walks out of the building. We see his bare rear several times.
We see a couple kiss.

Violent Content: Excessive

There are a lot of intense high-speed races throughout the film. We see many horrible crashes with several fatalities of innocent victims.
After driver was forced off the road, we see his car flipping into air as it explodes. This is a very graphic scene.
Thugs use a shotgun to force Tobey and Julia’s (Tobey’s love interest) car off the road.
The DeLeon race that Tobey and Dino participate in destroys several of the driver’s cars, along with numerous police cars.
We see Tobey punch Dino in the face.

Crude or Profane Language: Mild

The f-word is said once. We also hear “h—,” “a–,” b–tards” and “douche bag” several times throughout the film.

Drugs and Alcohol: Mild

Characters are shown drinking alcoholic beverages.

Will it Appeal to kids? Yes

Overall this is a entertaining action packed film. Parents need to be aware of the intense car crashes and illegal car races we see in the film. Depending on the child, this is appropriate for kids ages 12 and up.

Mr. Peabody And Sherman- Kids Movie Review

“Every dog should have a boy,” that’s what Mr. Peabody (voice of Ty Burrell) says about his mischievous son Sherman (voice of Max Charles). Mr. Peabody is an extremely intelligent talking dog who has adopted a boy named Sherman. The two live in a New York City penthouse: Sherman goes to school like most 7 year old boys, and Mr. Peabody is a loving dedicated father who takes care of the house and brings home the bacon. Peabody and Sherman also like to have fun! Continue reading →