BOLT

"We jump through hoops to make sure Bolt believes everything is real. It's why we don't miss marks. It's why we don't reshoot... if the dog believes it, the audience believes it."
~ Director of the BOLT TV series

Bolt the Superdog has his own TV show in which he repeatedly saves his beloved owner, Penny. The only problem is that he thinks everything that happens on the set is what is happening in real life-bad guy, damsel in distress, superpowers and all. When Penny is captured by the villain on the set, Bolt escapes from his trailer to go rescue her...and finds that all of a sudden his superpowers are useless. Teaming up with a weirded-out alley cat named Mittens and a TV nerd hamster named Rhino, he sets off on a daring mission to save the girl he loves from the green-eyed man's evil clutches. But are there really any evil clutches to save her from?

I got a good review on BOLT from a reliable source, so we rented it and watched it in the living room over goldfish. In short, I was quite impressed. It's hard to find a movie nowadays with a cute story, no swearing or suggestive content, and good laughs to boot! I read the Plugged-in-Online review and got the impression that there was more blood and violence than your usual Disney cartoon, so I kept a weather eye and found that these fears were groundless. On the scary side we see a motorcycle chase and bad guys on the set with electric hands. There is an angsty fire scene where Penny and Bolt are seriously imperiled. This is the only reason that you will need to preview this for your little kids - the rest of the movie is absolutely clear of any questionable content! Definitely worth a watch for the whole family!

Directed by: Chris Williams, Byron Howard ~ Produced by: Clark Spencer, John Lasseter ~ Written by: Idea-Chris Sanders, Screenplay-Chris Williams, Dan Fogelman ~ Starring: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell ~ Music by: John Powell ~ Editing by: Tim Mertens ~ Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures ~ Release date: November 21, 2008 ~ Running time: 96 minutes

MADAGASCAR 2 - ESCAPE TO AFRICA

"What is this place?"
"San Diego. This time, I'm 40% sure."

Our zoo friends Alex, Marty, Gloria, Melman, and the penguins board King Julian's wreck plane to head back to New York! But when they crash in Africa, Alex meets his parents - the ones he had before he was taken by hunters and drifted to New York. His father Zuba is the alpha lion, and Alex is ready to prove himself to his dad through the Rite of Passage. Except there are two problems. First, a sneaky lion is ready to use Alex to become the alpha lion himself, and secondly Alex thinks the Rite of Passage is a dance-off.

You saw the first one, you loved it, you saw the previews for this one and they looked hilarious. Our experience exactly. But as good as the trailer looked, this movie does not burst through the dark cloud of reachy sequels. To my knowledge, no 2 movie ever has except Toy Story, and don't expect it here. While ESCAPE TO AFRICA is by no means lacking in funny lines (mostly provided by our beloved Julian and the penguins), the side plots and overtones are just... second movie-esque. Alot about women and love. To Melman's dismay, Gloria gets a date with a dashing hippo who says some things that could have been left out, and made me squirm a little. Nothing unthinkable, just not good for the kids. Plenty of fat jokes too that you won't want to hear your five-year-old cracking. Julian also gives some advice about how to deal with the ladies. He also makes a sacrifice to his "good friends the water gods", which is decribed as a "50-50" way of getting water. But there is nothing serious there, and it is mostly just a way to get Melman's heart to come out his mouth. In the beginning, the hunters take baby Alex away and shoot at his father, which could be scary.

Now for the positive side. Alex and his parents are happily reunited and Zuba stands up for his son, even though he's a little... weird. Melman makes a couple of sweet speeches without any sensual content, which I liked. He also is ready to sacrifice himself to maybe get water for his true love. And there's a lot of funny! The penguins are great and you can't go too wrong with Julian!

I enjoyed this movie, despite it's lacking in certain areas. But you may want to watch it before your kids do.

Directed by: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath ~ Produced by: Mireille Soria, Mark Swift ~ Written by: Etan Cohen, Tom McGrath (animator), Eric Darnell ~ Starring: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Bernie MacSherri Shepherd, Alec Baldwin, will.i.am ~ Music by: Hans Zimmer, will.i.am ~ Editing by: Mark A. Hester ~ Distributed by: DreamWorks Distribution, Paramount Pictures ~ Release date: November 7, 2008 ~ Running time: 89 minutes

HORTON HEARS A WHO!

"All right, I gotta get this speck up to the top of Mount Nool A.S.A.P, whatever that means, probably 'act swiftly, awesome pachyderm'! I mean, how hard can that be?"

~ Horton

When an easygoing elephant named Horton hears a tiny spec call out, he is certain that there are people living on that spec. Turns out he's right! He has made contact with the Mayor of Who-Ville, who has 96 daughters and 1 son named JoJo who all share a bathroom! The Mayor is shocked to find his world is a spec, and Horton swears to make sure no harm befalls them. The problem is, none of the other citizens of Who-Ville believe the mayor when he shares his concerns about the land where nothing ever goes wrong. Little does he know, Horton is having the same problems with a fierce Kangaroo and her mean henchmen. Can the Whos come together and prove to an angry mob that they exist?

HORTON HEARS A WHO! is a funny movie based off of Dr. Seuss's book with great voices and great animation! Unfortunately, it's not above some of the usual transgressions. The funny-ness sometimes spills over into the land of stupidity and sometimes it hangs around on the border between the two. But don't get me wrong - there's plenty of funny. But kids will be a lot more into this one than the adults will, which brings me to my next concerns.

JoJo is a sulky kid who is misunderstood by his dad and doesn't say a word till the end (something I've noticed that is getting more and more fashionable in cartoons). The mean Kangaroo's son disobeys her in the end and gives the spec back to Horton, and it's good that he did, but there is still the disobeying part. Vlad, the vulture that is hired to get rid of the spec is supposed to be funny, but he still might scare certain kids. The Mayor is called a "boob" which is funny until your 3-year-old says it, and the part where Horton is tied and the spec is held over a boiling pot of doom could get a little scary as well.

Now for the good stuff: IT'S FUNNY! Horton is 100% devoted to the well-being of the spec, even when he is encouraged to "go 99% just once". The Kangaroo repeatedly says something to the effect of, "If you can't see it, hear it, or feel it, it doesn't exist!" bringing a little spiritual thought into the whole thing (though probably not intentionally). JoJo comes through for everyone in the end, and makes up with the mayor. Everybody turns nice in the end, "and so, all ended well for both Horton and Who's, and for all in the jungle, even kangaroos. So let that be a lesson to one and to all; a person is a person, no matter how small."

This is a good one - but not a winner in my book. Enjoyable, but not for more than probably three times:)

Directed by: Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino ~ Produced by: Bob Gordon, Chris Wedge ~ Written by: Dr. Seuss (book and story) Ken Daurio, Cinco Paul ~ Narrated by: Charles Osgood ~ Starring: Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Dan Fogler, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Jaime Pressly, Seth Rogen, Jesse McCartney, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, Selena Gomez ~ Distributed by: 20th Century Fox, Blue Sky Studios

ENCHANTED

"I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss..." Set in the land of Andalasia, this Walt Disney movie kicks off as your average Cinderella-type animated princess show for dreamy-eyed six year old girls. Princess Giselle is rescued from a troll by Prince Edward. It is love at first sight, and they prepare for their wedding the next day. But Edward's evil queen mother does not want to give up her throne, so she sends Giselle to an evil land where there is no happily ever after - New York City. She meets a divorce lawyer, Robert, and his daughter who try to help her and are quite flabbergasted by this girl that seems to have jumped right out of a fairy tale book. She sings, dances, continually talks about her Prince Edward, and has animal friends. He tries to teach her about reality, but strangely she is teaching him just as much. Meanwhile, Edward learns of her disappearance and resolves to go to New York and rescue her. The prince causes as much confusion as Giselle, and his mother sends her henchman to make his job difficult, fully equipped with some poison apples for Giselle. But despite the hardships of being from once-upon-a-time-in-a-faraway-land in New York, Edward finally finds Giselle - and starts singing of course. But will they get back before the evil Queen steps in?

I went to see this movie with Mom and it was absolutely HILARIOUS! Giselle is a naive little princess that brings some innocent purity and fairy tale magic into New York. In a conversation with Robert about his former wife, he tells her that he just woke up one day and faced reality. She is astonished and asks, "What made you wake up?" She also meets a couple just after an appointment with the divorce lawyer and comments about their beauty and sparkly eyes. "No wonder you're in love!" Robert quickly whisks her aside and tells her they are being divorced and she starts to cry. Later the couple rethink their priorities and decide to stay together after all. She talks - er, sings - about telling the woman you love that you love her and about bringing her flowers. Giselle is a lovable, positive character that makes you laugh.

On the not so good side, Giselle innocently tells Robert he can open the door just as she is getting out of the shower. Some birds fly in with a towel in the nick of time. After she is wrapped in it, she trips and falls on top of Robert - right as his girlfriend walks in. Giselle helps mend that rift, though not really understanding it. The queen's henchman turns out to be funny and nice, and the queen herself turns into a great dragon (sufficiently fake-looking) and ends up falling to her death.

I would highly recommend this movie to anyone, but guys won't get the nearly the same humor and enjoyment out of it that girls will!

Directed by Kevin Lima, Produced by Barry Josephson, Barry Sonnenfeld, Written by Bill Kelly
Narrated byJulie Andrews Starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel, Susan Sarandon, Rachel Covey Music by Alan Menken Cinematography Don Burgess Editing by Stephen A. Rotter, Gregory Perler Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)November 21, 2007 Running time 107 minutes

MEET THE ROBINSONS

"With a little science and imagination, we could make the world a better place!" A twelve-year-old orphan inventor tells potential parents again and again. But nobody seems to want a spiky-haired science geek that keeps his baseball-loving roommate, Mike Yagoobian "Goob", up all night. But who COULD want him? Maybe... his mother who reluctantly gave him up to the orphanage doors! Lewis invents a memory scanner to bring up the memory of her to his mind. But who should show up, but a cop from the future, Wilbur Robinson! He warns Lewis to watch out for a tall man with a bowler hat (who stole his dad's time machine, but too late. The bowler hat guy sabotages and steals the invention to ruin Lewis's future. Wilbur takes Lewis on a wild ride on his Dad's time other time machine to the future, where he and the bowler hat guy are from. But due to a crash landing, Lewis has to fix the time machine, and so meets the Robinson family! Together they battle the bowler hat guy and his evil sidekick, Doris - or is it Doris and her evil sidekick, the bowler hat guy? With some secrets of the future and some perseverance, these inventions of a boy could change the world. You've just gotta keep moving forward!

We watched this movie on our family's annual Egg Nog night this year. Everybody absolutely loved it! I would highly recommend it to anybody looking for a good family movie that adults and kids alike will enjoy.

As for those negative elements, the most blatant thing is name-calling. "Stupid" "Idiot" "Booger Breath" and "Pansy" are as descriptive as it gets. No cuss words, but when "helping hats" briefly take over the world, it may cause fright in some toddlers. Also when a dinosaur chases Lewis, but that ends in another funny moment. Even the bad guy is funny and nice in the end and his worst scemes in the movie are taking the broken memory scanner, calling a T-rex, getting a talking frog under his control, and toilet-papering buildings. All things considered, it is one of those movies that is rightly rated "G"!

Directed by
Steve Anderson
Produced by
Dorothy McKim
Written by
Michelle Spritz

Jon Bernstein
Starring
Jordan Fry

Harland Williams

Tom Kenny

Steve Anderson

Angela Bassett

Tom Selleck

Nicole Sullivan
Music by
Danny Elfman
Distributed by
Walt Disney Pictures

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM

In this 20th Century Fox film, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is a divorced father who just wants a dependable job to avoid eviction and moving away from his ten-year-old son. Night watchman at the almost forgotten Museum of Natural History? Sure, why not? The three old night guards, Cecil (Dick Van-Dyke), Gus, and Reginald give him a tour of the place. It's just your average museum: some wax figures, miniature settlers, a T-rex skeleton, some stuffed african animals, and a mummy with his Egyptian Tablet. The men leave him with an instruction manual and the words, "Just don't let anything in... or out." Do men ever read the instructions? No. What's to know about being a night watchman, right? To his amazement, the T-rex skeleton comes to life before his eyes! He thinks that maybe he should've read that manual before the capuchin monkey tore it up. And before Attila the Hun and the dinosaur set him running for his life. Luckily, a kindly wax Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams) helps him bring order to the museum on the first night. The freaked-out watchman is informed that the mummy's Tablet is what makes everyone come alive at night. As long as nobody gets out of the museum to turn to meet a terrible fate of turning to dust at dawn, things should be just fine. This is NOT what Larry bargained for, but he wants to make his son, Nick, proud again, so he brushes up on some history and tries to make Huns, squabbling settlers and Romans, and monkeys get along. But when the tablet is stolen and the occupants of the museum turn loose into the streets, what can Larry do?

This is a funny movie directed at kids, but one that adults can laugh at too. But it does fall a tad short of being perfectly family friendly. There is a cuss word, and some mild violence (some fist-fighting with burglars, being shot with a tiny "poison" dart, getting bit on the nose by a monkey, etc). A tiny bit of disrespect is shown by Nick to his father, basically because Larry has lost it by the divorce and his job shifting all the time. One of the old nightguards has a bad temper and likes to call people names like "weirdee" and "snack shack". But good heart is shown in that everybody stops fighting and starts partying and being friends in the end. But this "roll-on-the-ground funny" is justly rated PG.

Directed by
Shawn Levy

Produced by
Chris Columbus
Stephen Sommers
Bob Ducsay

Written by
Ben Garant
Thomas Lennon

Starring
Ben Stiller
Robin Williams
Dick Van Dyke
Owen Wilson
Mickey Rooney

Music by
Alan Silvestri

Cinematography
Guillermo Navarro

Distributed by
20th Century Fox

Release date(s)
December 22, 2006

Running time
Theatrical:108 minutes