Family Film Reviews

"The Last Mimzy" (PG, 1 hr., 30 min.)

Kids 10 and older into physics, astronomy, math, and/or the idea of time travel are ideal customers for "The Last Mimzy," even though the film is a bit of a mess. Despite charming child actors and a cool central idea, the movie trips over a convoluted narrative, extraneous details and adult characters exuding 9/11 paranoia. It is also scary and emotionally harrowing at times, and too intense for many kids under 10. We see a little girl nearly sucked into a space/time vortex. We see her become nearly hysterical when her mother throws out the magical new "toys" she and her brother have found. The movie shows the kids levitating themselves, moving objects just by thinking and communicating telepathically with each other and a seemingly inert stuffed rabbit. There is also talk of the world ending. Kid characters say things "suck" and that hamburgers are made of "chopped-up cow." We also see a two-headed snake, spiders and cockroaches. On a less icky level, "The Last Mimzy" has FBI agents invading a home and carting a family off for questioning under the Patriot Act, which could disturb kids (let alone adults).

"The Last Mimzy" is based on a 1943 short story, its title taken from Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky" in "Through the Looking-Glass." In the film, 10-year-old Noah (Chris O'Neil) and his little sister Emma (Rhiannon Leigh Wryn) find a carved box on the beach containing crystals, stones and other objects that float, spin, make whirring noises and seem ready to do much more. There's also a stuffed rabbit. Soon Noah builds genius science projects and Emma claims she's talking to the rabbit, Mimzy, about saving the world. Their parents (Joely Richardson and Timothy Hutton) take notice and so does Homeland Security.

P.S. FOR KIDS 10 AND ODLER: The little girl Emma in "The Last Mimzy" talks a lot about the books "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass" by Lewis Carroll -- two great books.

"TMNT" (PG, 1 hr., 29 min.)

After a 14-year hiatus from feature films, the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" are back from the world of TV 'toons. That the three PG-rated animated features of yore ("Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" in 1990, followed by sequels in 1991 and 1993) are now joined by "TMNT" is less than a joyous event. The new computer-animated film is dimly lit, hard-edged, mechanical-looking and too violent on the big screen for some kids under 10. Its plot is also very confusing -- at least for adults. It includes semi-harsh language ("the snot kicked out of him"), tired ethnic stereotypes (of people in Central America, playing right into the current immigration debate) and a weird joke most kids won't get, which seems to refer to phone sex lines. The monsters and stone warriors key to the plot loom huge over the TMNTs, eyes glowing. Some look like giant bats, spiders, lobsters, or a cross between a gorilla and a wild boar. There are plot points about ancient monsters or warriors taking over the world. The fights are not portrayed as bloody, but they are big and loud.

The film finds the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or TMNTs (long ago morphed into powerful turtle-men by a polluted "ooze" and named for Italian Renaissance artists Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael), a little estranged. Leo has been sent away by Master Splinter to hone his leadership skills. He returns when the Turtles' archeologist pal April (voice of Sarah Michelle Gellar) brings an ancient artifact from Central America for secretive museum director Max Winters (Patrick Stewart). It seems to reanimate 3,000-year-old stone warriors and other monsters -- or something. But first the Turtles must reconcile and prove they can again act as one to fight evil.

"Pride" (PG, 1 hr., 44 min.)

Terrence Howard stars in this fact-based saga as swim coach Jim Ellis, who has taught inner-city Philadelphia kids to swim competitively since the early 1970s. Disjointed, heavy-handed and often too teary-eyed, "Pride" works anyway, because it is a modest film that focuses more on character than on slow-motion sports-movie glitz shots (though there's some of that, too). Kids 10 and older who like character-driven tales could find "Pride" pretty inspiring. It dramatizes Ellis' early years, not only as a coach but a mentor, trying to get teen athletes to take the sport seriously, avoid street life and learn discipline. They encounter blatant racism when facing other teams, much of it embodied in a bigoted coach played by Tom Arnold. (This is prefigured in a prologue showing Ellis booed by a white Southern crowd at a 1964 college swim meet, where he scuffles with a cop.) That theme, plus occasional racial slurs in the dialogue and a high level of profanity for a PG film -- numerous S-words -- make "Pride" iffy for kids under 10. The film has a rude joke about a broken condom and shows a fistfight, a local thug making threats, and women who seem to be prostitutes.

Struggling after college, Ellis finally gets hired by the city of Philadelphia to close down an old rec center in a rough neighborhood. Instead, he fills up the pool and starts training teens. The young actors are strong, as are Bernie Mac as the center's burned-out maintenance man and Kimberly Elise as a city councilwoman whose brother swims for Ellis.

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Beyond the Ratings Game: Movie Reviews for various ages

-- 8 AND OLDER:

"TMNT" PG (NEW) (First "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" computer-animated feature since 1993 (there were three, in 1990, '91 and '93, all PGs) is dimly lit, hard-edged, too violent for some under 10, and narratively muddled; this time the four Ninja Turtle fighters (mutated long ago by a polluted "ooze" and named for Italian Renaissance artists Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello) have become estranged; Master Splinter says they must become one again before fighting a new threat: reanimated stone warriors from ancient Central America, related to an artifact the TMNT's archeologist pal April (voice of Sarah Michelle Gellar) has delivered to a museum director (Patrick Stewart). Semi-harsh language (" snot kicked out of him"); tired ethnic stereotypes; off-color joke most kids won't get refers subtly to phone-sex industry; red-eyed monsters loom huge, along with the ancient warriors; battles between them and TMNTs not shown as bloody, but big and loud.)

"Bridge to Terabithia" PG (Touching story (based on Katherine Paterson's novel) about a deep friendship between fifth-graders Jess (Josh Hutcherson), a budding artist from a rural family that ignores him, and Leslie (AnnaSophia Robb), a free-spirited daughter of wealthy writers; the two create a fantasy world, Terabithia, in the woods, facing down bullies there and in real life; film's gritty naturalism is marred by a charmless, computer-animated effort to visualize Terabithia. Under-8s may be spooked by swooping vultures, giant trolls, armored attack squirrels, and a huge tree that morphs into a troll (pretty cool, actually); adults use mild profanity; kid-scuffles with bloodied noses; verbal references to a girl whose dad hits her; kids discuss religion; WARNING -- PLOT GIVEAWAY: Film's last act deals with strong sense of grief and loss.)

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-- 10 AND OLDER:

"The Last Mimzy" PG (NEW) (Kids into science, idea of time-travel will like film's cool premise, despite its messy, disappointing execution: a 10-year-old boy (Chris O'Neil) and his little sister (Rhiannon Leigh Wryn) find a box on the beach, full of spinning, humming rocks and crystals, plus a stuffed bunny that "talks" to the little girl about saving a doomed world; soon their parents (Timothy Hutton, Joely Richardson) and Homeland Security are concerned. Too intense for some under 10: adult characters voice 9/11 paranoia; little girl hysterical when her mother throws out the magical "toys"; later she's nearly sucked into a space/time vortex; kids levitate themselves, move objects or talk telepathically; kids say things "suck" and hamburgers are "chopped-up cow"; two-headed snake; bugs; federal agents drag a family off for questioning; teacher lives with his girlfriend; talk of reincarnation.)

"Pride" PG (NEW) (Terrence Howard is charismatic as usual in affecting, uplifting, though overly teary-eyed drama about real-life swim coach Jim Ellis and how he began coaching inner-city Philadelphia teens to swim competitively in the early 1970s, helping to turn their ives around despite poverty, racism; Bernie Mac as the burned-out rec center maintenance man inspired by Ellis' dedication; Tom Arnold as a bigoted rival coach. Realistic theme about evils of racism; occasional racial slurs; high level of profanity for a PG film -- much use of the S-word; crude verbal joke about a broken condom; fistfight; rude hand gesture; local thug makes threats; women who appear to be prostitutes.)

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-- PG-13s:

"The Namesake" (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) (Warm, witty, occasionally heartbreaking, utterly involving story (based on Jhumpa Lahiri's novel), marred slightly by superficial portrayals of one or two key supporting characters, about a couple from 1970s Calcutta who enter into an arranged marriage and move to New York; film chronicles how they and their children tangle over how much tradition to keep in America, how much to let go; they feel estranged from their son (Kal Penn) when he brings home a rich, white girl (Jacinda Barrett) and spends more time with her family; highly evocative film is ethnically specific, yet universal, with a subtle literary thread running through it. Steamy but nonexplicit sexual situations; rear-view nudity; flashbacks of train accident; one scene showing bloodied victims; themes of grief, loss; marijuana; drinking; smoking; rare profanity. High-schoolers.)

"Premonition" (Sandra Bullock stranded in a corny, endlessly derivative, clunkily directed supernatural thriller about a stay-at-home mom who has a time-bending flash-forward to hearing news of her husband's (Julian McMahon) accidental death, then wakes up the next day to find him alive; the process repeats -- one day he's dead, the next alive; her sanity questioned, she tries to solve the mystery. Some teens could be upset by: film's sense of numbing grief, loss; brief glimpse of a severed head; a fiery crash; a bloodied decomposing crow; stitched-up wounds on a child's face; character dragged screaming to a psychiatric ward and given injection; child having a bad, but not life-threatening, accident; mild sexual innuendo in marital scenes; rare strongish profanity; subtle allusions to infidelity, suicide; smoking; drinking; tranquilizers.)

"Wild Hogs" (Slow to start, but ultimately amusing comedy about four middle-aged Cincinnati guys (Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy) who toss their cell phones and go on a cross-country motorcycle trip; in New Mexico they face a "real" motorcycle gang (led by Ray Liotta). Too lewd to be a total family comedy; crude language; sexual innuendo -- much of it homophobic; gross toilet humor; considerable midrange profanity; comic fights, mayhem; skinny-dipping scene with a character naked from behind; condom joke; prolonged subplot about a gay state trooper (John C. McGinley) who nearly stalks the guys; free-for-all fight; drinking, smoking. OK for high-schoolers.)

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-- R's:

"Shooter" (NEW) (Rip-snorter action thriller moves so supercool fast (directed by Antoine Fuqua, who did "Training Day" R, 2001) audiences won't have time to trip over logical/logistical speed-bumps in the script (based on Washington Post film critic Stephen Hunter's novel, "Point of Impact"); Mark Wahlberg as Bob Lee Swagger, ex-Marine sniper, who leaves the military after his superiors betray him during a secret mission; a civilian mountain man three years later, he's recruited by an ex-colonel (Danny Glover) to use his sniper skills to stop a presidential assassination; again he's betrayed -- set up as a would-be assassin, wounded and on the run, aided by Michael Pena as a rooky FBI agent, Kate Mara as his Marine buddy's widow. High-powered point-blank and long-distance shootings with much blood, occasional gore; gun suicide; fingers, then arm shot off; do-it-yourself bullet removal; villain's implied intention to commit rape; strong profanity; beer. Action fans 16 and older.)

"I Think I Love My Wife" (Chris Rock co-wrote, directed and stars in edgy, profane, moderately sprightly, but superficial comedy -- a Rock-coarsened update of a 1972 French film "Chloe in the Afternoon" (R); he plays a family guy toying with cheating on his wife (Gina Torres) with a gorgeous acquaintance (Kerry Washington) who appears at his office, flaunting her allure; he starts a flirtation, debates his moral choices. Repeated use of F-word in both nonsexual and sexual meanings; other graphic sexual language; rare steamy, mostly nonexplicit sexual situations, excepting one sequence about that famous 4-hour side effect of Viagra -- no nudity, but graphically implied; racial jokes; rhymes-with-witch word; someone gets beaten up; marijuana; drinking; cigarettes; reference to suicide attempt. Despite its R-nesses, film comes down squarely in favor of fidelity, family. Too raunchy for under-17s.)

"Beyond the Gates" (LIMITED RELEASE) (Understated, yet heart and gut-wrenching fact-based drama (with fictionalized characters) about a British priest (John Hurt) and teacher (Hugh Dancy) at a school in Kigali, Rwanda, who tried to shelter some 2500 Tutsi children and adults during the 1994 genocide; filmed in the actual school, movie re-enacts how United Nations peacekeepers followed orders not to intervene, how European troops rescued whites only. Depictions of people, including a mother and infant, hacked to death with machetes or shot -- harrowing, bloody, but not exploitatively graphic, often partly hidden from view; roads strewn with bodies; murdered nuns, with implication one was also raped or mutilated; painful verbal description of murder of a baby; strong profanity; racial slurs; drinking; smoking. College students.)

"300" (Stunning, digitally enhanced, occasionally giggle-inducing, but mostly epic-feeling and sounding adaptation of graphic novel (by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley) about Sparta's King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., when he and 300 men faced Persian emperor Xerxes and his mega-army; narration, dialogue, battles all seem effectively ancient, portentous. Stylized visuals, muted colors make violence seem otherworldly, less gory, but still harrowing -- not for all high-school-age stomachs; spears, daggers through guts, eyes; horses cut down from under warriors; strongly implied rape -- camera cuts away before it becomes graphic; more explicit, but very stylized, sexual montage between Leonidas and his Queen (Lena Headey); back-view nudity; toplessness; a few subtle homoerotic verbal references; mild curses. High-schoolers.)