OPEN SEASON 3

2010, Sony Pictures Animation

Animation

Rating: PG

Approx. 77 mins.

THE STORY:

Boog the bear (Matthew J. Munn) feels let down by his forest pals who have no time for him. Especially hurtful is the fact that his best bud, Elliot the deer (Matthew W. Taylor), is prioritizing family commitments over their friendship. Boog pines for some bear company, and his wishes seem to be granted when he discovers a visiting circus with performing bears.
Conveniently, just as much as Boog longs to join the circus, the circus' star performing bear, Doug (Matthew J. Munn) dreams of escaping. The two switch places, but it isn't long before they both realize that the grass isn't always greener. 
In the end, Boog finds love in the form of the circus' other star, Ursa, and brings her back to his forest home. Once back, he makes up with his friends thanks to his new-found understanding of the importance of recognizing their priorities.

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:

• caca
• stupid

VIOLENCE:

• nothing significant

TEACHING POINTS:

• respect others' priorities and need for time to themselves

THE UPSHOT:

It's OK. It would have been better if any of the original cast had actually been involved-- Crispin Glover and Georgia Engel aside, that is. But lately I've seen so many movies that are just so much worse than this one that my perspective has shifted a bit. 
It didn't offend the grown-ups in the room. It didn't bring the five-year-old in the room to tears. It wasn't overly long. It could have been much much worse. 

3/5

ANTZ

1998, DreamWorks SKG

Animation

Rating: PG

Approx. 83 mins.

THE STORY:

Z (Woody Allen) is a worker ant who is not satisfied with his lot in life. He longs to choose his own path and to be his own individual rather than just do the work his social station dictates for him. His desire for more is enhanced when he meets the daughter of the colony's queen, Princess Bala (Sharon Stone), and is instantly smitten.

Z changes places with his best friend Weaver (Sylvester Stallone), a soldier ant, in order to get closer to her. Inadvertently, however, he ends up being sent into battle on a suicide mission against the termites. The army and the queen have come under the control of a maniacal general ant who is on a mission to eradicate the 'lesser' social order in order to purify and strengthen the ant race.

It is up to Z and Princess Bala to rescue the worker ants who have literally been digging their own grave. In so doing they also manage to teach their fellow colonists that they have the ability and the right to exercise free will.  

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:

• damn
• hell
• stupid
• ass
• bitch

VIOLENCE:

• the ants fight a serious battle against the termites
• an ant dies on screen due to injuries sustained in battle

TEACHING POINTS:

• lots of lessons about the dangers of autocracy/ military dictatorships
• the first step in exercising free will is recognizing that you have it

THE UPSHOT:

It's typical Woody Allen, so if that sounds appealing you'll love it. The cast is amazing, the script is hilarious (from an adult perspective) and the animation is impressive. I liked that it had a big message atypical of animation, but that is part of what makes it more of an adult film than a kid's film. 

Young kids will get something out of it, but to truly appreciate the story you need a certain degree of understanding of the world

The five year-old in the room liked it, but the grown ups in the room loved it.

4/5

FISHTALES

2007, Arokaria

Live action

Rating: PG

Approx. 94 mins.

THE STORY:

An American visiting professor at Oxford (Billy Zane) goes to Greece with his adolescent daughter, Serena (Amber Savva), to finish his book about love and mysticism in ancient Greece. While there, Serena runs into a mermaid. They become friends and Serena tries to set her up with her father.
But when the professor and the mermaid fall in love under the influence of a love spell, Serena panics. Some irrational stuff happens, some random action occurs... then they all live happily ever after.

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:

• a-hole
• ass
• shut up
• stupid
• could swear I heard someone say 'bitch'

VIOLENCE:

• a woman chops the head off a chicken-- off screen but very very obvious

TEACHING POINTS:

• umm...love is a verb and it takes hard work to keep it going... so not for anyone under 18

THE UPSHOT:

I learned something very valuable from this film: film editors really do matter. Watching this movie, I kept thinking that the disc was skipping and we had missed some key transitional scene. But no; it's just choppy to the point of confusion. I'm going to give everyone associated with the film the benefit of the doubt and assume it is largely a money thing. 

The script is bad. The pacing is awkward. The acting is mediocre. The end is predictable. Greece is beautiful.

1/5

BARNYARD

2006, Paramount Pictures

Animation

Rating: PG

Approx. 90 mins.

THE STORY:

Otis the cow (Kevin James) loves to party with his other animal friends on the farm. And little does the farmer know that his livestock can all walk and talk as well as any human when they want to. While Otis enjoys his carefree life, his adoptive father Ben (Sam Elliott) guards the perimeter, protecting his fellow barnyarders from marauding coyotes.

Otis' life is transformed when Ben is killed in a coyote attack. Otis is chosen to be the new leader on the farm and the mantle does not rest easy at first. He tries to balance his leadership duties with his romantic interest in the new pregnant cow on the farm with his instinct for fun, and at first appears to succeed at none of the above.

In the end, Otis learns to listen to the voice of maturity in his head and to balance the need fun responsibility with the need for fun.  

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:

• fat
• "Milk me" as an expletive substitute

VIOLENCE:

• some pretty scary, threatening scenes where coyotes attack other animals
• a cow dies of wounds inflicted in a fight with coyotes-- fight, death scene and funeral shown
• fighting, hitting, punching, biting all shown

TEACHING POINTS:

• "A strong man stands up for himself. A stronger man stands up for others."

THE UPSHOT:

It's never a good sign when a movie starts and your first thought is, "Haven't we already seen this?" The short answer was 'no.' The longer answer was, 'But we might as well have.'

The 5 year-old in the room enjoyed it, but felt a little concerned for the animals threatened by the coyotes. The grown up in the room felt a bit bludgeoned by the heavy-handed messaging and the complete lack of subtlety. The good guys are Good; the bad guys are Bad.

I think this film had potential, but needed a bit more script work. It has its moments, but the humour just isn't steady or sophisticated enough to make it a really enjoyable movie experience for the whole family.  

3/5