Mummy Mayhem's Family Movie Reviews

Astro Boy

2010-05-29T12:11:00.001+10:00

Rating: PG
Running time: 94 minutes
Reviewed by: Jodie at Mummy Mayhem

As written on the IMDb website:

Set in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist in the image of the son he has lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving man's expectations, our hero embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators, before he returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the father who had rejected him.

For some reason, our boys were hesitant about getting this DVD, but once seated in front of the movie, they couldn't stop watching. Once again, even the 3yr old was intrigued, and the 8yr old later rated it a "5 out of 5" movie!

Here's the movie trailer:

I'd heard some mixed reviews about this film. I think die hard fans of the original Astro Boy may not have been too keen on a remake. However, this made no difference to our boys, and they absolutely loved it!

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

2010-05-01T23:38:00.000+10:00

Rating: G
Running time: 86 minutes
Reviewed by: Jodie at Mummy Mayhem

Straight up...this would have to be one of the funniest kid's movies I've seen in a while.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, inspired by the children's book, is described as "the most delicious event since macaroni met cheese." Indeed, it is.

Here's the spiel from the back of the DVD:

When Flint Lockwood's (Bill Hader) latest contraption accidentally destroys the town square and rockets up into the clouds, he thinks his inventing career is over. Then something amazing happens as delicious cheeseburgers start raining from the sky. His machine actually works! But the machine starts to run amok, unleashing spaghetti tornadoes and giant meatballs that threaten the world! Now it's up to Flint, with the help of the weather girl Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) and Steve, his talking monkey assistant, to find some way to shut down the machine before the world is covered in super sized meatballs!

This movie had us all in from the minute it started. Our three boys barely made a sound through the whole thing (even the 3yr old - and that's really saying something). It's probably one of the funniest kids' movies Hubby and I have ever seen (although Hubby still thinks The Incredibles is one of the best movies for kids ever made). I found myself laughing out loud on more than the odd occasion during this film.

The 8yr old was especially taken with a scene in which Flint and Sam bounce their way around a huge pile of jello (or jelly as we call it here in Australia)! I believe his words were, "Oh - that would be so much fun." (You'll be glad to know that I refrained from telling him that some people do roll around in jelly, in a sort of wrestling fashion, occasionally. Ahem.)

Although all the actors did a great job voicing this movie, a definite highlight was hearing Mr T's voice as police officer, Earl Devereaux. Fabulous!

A winner, people. Go for it! I'd be surprised if you regretted forking out your money to see it.

Planet 51

2010-04-25T11:12:00.000+10:00

Rating: PG
Running time: 87 mins
Reviewed by: Jodie at Mummy Mayhem

Although previously banned from choosing the movies for Family Movie Night (due to a couple of dodgy choices on my part), nevertheless I found myself at the DVD store a couple of weeks ago doing just that. I came home with Planet 51.

Hubby was dubious (he hadn't heard of it). I assured him it was a latest release and that I'd heard only good things about it. Thankfully, the information I'd heard was right.

Here's how website IMDb describes Planet 51:

Lem is just an average teenager working on getting the girl and furthering his career at the local planetarium - except that he's an alien. At least to U.S. astronaut Captain Charles T. Baker who lands on Lem's planet hoping for a quick flag plant and a hasty return to earth and his millions of screaming fans. But on this alien planet the media has tagged spacemen as brain-eating, zombie-creating monsters, causing Baker to run for his life and into Lem's house. Now it's up to the green native to get the clumsy astronaut back to his spaceship before military dictator General Grawl and mad scientist Professor Kipple manage to exterminate the Earthly visitor.

Check out the trailer below:

We all loved this movie - even Hubby! There's quite a bit of humour that appeals to adults which went over the boys' heads. However, this made the movie no less appealing to the kids. It's great animation, and it's fun seeing a movie which reverses the roles of the universe, with the humans being the "aliens" for a change!

A great family flick. Go get it out soon. I'm sure it won't disappoint.

Up

2010-04-04T12:11:00.000+10:00

Rating: PG
Running time: 96 minutes
Reviewed by: Jodie at Mummy Mayhem

Well, haven't I been a bit slack lately with updating this blog?! Life is busy...or full. Whichever way you choose to view it.

We've missed a few family movie nights lately, due to other commitments. Then one night, we decided to watch Jumanji, and it proved a little too scary for the 6yo and 3yo, so we stopped it about 10 minutes in! Oh well. It's in the DVD collection for later.

But last week, we watched Up. Oh my goodness - what a beautiful movie. I mean, the animation is fantastic (wouldn't expect anything less from Pixar though), but the story itself is so heartfelt, warm and at times, very funny.

Up is the story about 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen. Recently widowed, Carl sets out to carry out a dream he and his wife, Elie, always had to travel to South America and live there, at Paradise Falls. Having spent most of his life selling helium filled balloons to children, he uses those same balloons to lift his whole house up in to the air, hence escaping his imminent move to a retirement home in the process, and travel to his chosen destination.

All seems to be going well, until he discovers he has a passenger, Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior who inadvertently finds himself on Carl's front porch after trying to help Carl in order to gain his last wilderness explorer badge - for helping the elderly.

Together, they find themselves in South America and Carl is determined to move his house right where he and Elie intended it to be.

The movie starts with Carl as a young boy, who meets his future wife, Elie - who shares his sense of adventure. There follows an incredibly moving montage of their life to date. To be honest, it had me in tears, and even when I watched it a second time, it pulled at my heart strings again. I think I'm thinking of my own parents when I watch them growing old together. Sigh.

All three boys loved the movie, and happily watched it a second time just yesterday. The character of Russell provides some very funny moments.

A big thumbs up here! Watch it. You won't regret it.

G-FORCE

2010-03-01T14:34:00.007+11:00

Rating: PG

Running time: 88 minutes

Reviewed by: Jodie at Mummy Mayhem

Guinea Pigs as spies. That's G-FORCE in a nutshell.

G-FORCE are a bunch of guinea pigs that are part of a specially trained FBI group. When a budgetary review is due to be held, G-FORCE's unit leader (a human) organises an unauthorised mission to retrieve some secret information from a technology company, in order to impress his superiors. Unfortunately, the information retrieved and shown to the review board turns out to be useless. G-FORCE is shut down, and all the guinea pigs, as well as a star-nosed mole who works on cyber intelligence are transported to a pet shop.

It's here they try to find a way to break out and expose the real information behind the technology company - that they are building dangerous robot posing as appliances that have been programmed to take over the world.

Firstly, this movie was too complicated for the 3 year old to follow. In fact, I think it was difficult at times for the 6yr old and 7yr old to follow! It's quite an intricate story line for the littlies really. Don't expect a barrel of laughs. This movie had it's moments, but at the end of the day, was pretty ordinary in entertainment terms. The boys thought it ok - but still doesn't top Aliens In The Attack according to my boys!

The PG rating relates to some mild action and a little rude humor! (Think butt jokes.)

The Nutty Professor: Facing The Fear

2010-02-14T00:06:00.007+11:00

Rating: PG

Running time: 76 minutes

Reviewed by: Jodie at Mummy Mayhem

Remember the old Jerry Lewis movie, The Nutty Professor? Well, here's a slightly different version in an animated form. Well, sort of.

The story is about Harold Kelp, the grandson of Professor Julius Kelp (voiced by Jerry Lewis), who created a potion to transform his personality. Harold, who becomes a student of his grandfather, and meets a beautiful girl in his class whom he wants to impress, gets his hands on his grandfather's secret elixir and unleashes his alter ego.

The following clip is the first 5 minutes of the film.

So what did the family think of this movie? Put it this way...Hubby has banned me from choosing any future movies. Yep - it was that bad.

Well, not bad, but incredibly average. The 6yr old said it was "pretty good" and the 3yr old certainly watched it all (although, it should be noted it's a pretty short film), but the 7yr old described it as "pretty bad". And he's right.

The storyline was hard to follow. It was all over the place. There was only one moment, when Harold attempts to dance, that we broke in to a semi-laugh.

Personally, I found it hard work to watch. Certainly not a movie that will be played over and over again in our house.

My advice? Unless you're desperate for a movie choice, give it a miss. There are too many other good movies out there to choose from!

Aliens in the Attic

2010-02-06T22:04:00.014+11:00

Rating: PG

Running time: 86 minutes

Reviewed by: Jodie at Mummy Mayhem

Hubby chose this for our family movie night tonight, and to be honest, when I looked at the cover I was concerned. Firstly, it's rated PG, and with our sons being 3, 5 and 7, I wasn't sure if it would be suitable for all three.

Also, the aliens shown on the cover didn't look very cute and cuddly, and my concern was that the 3yr old would, well, freak out at the sight of them.

The movie starts with the main character, 15-year old Tom Pearson (played by Carter Jenkins) getting sprung by his parents for hacking in to his school's computer system to change his grades, which are not so great. Then Tom's sister, Bethany (played by Ashley Tisdale of High School Musical fame) arrives home after a secret outing with her boyfriend, Ricky.

This is all in the first 10 minutes, and I started to think that I was right with my first impression - that this was possibly more a tween flick than kid's flick.

But then the family go on a holiday to a large lake house, meeting up with Tom and Bethany's uncle, cousins and Nana (played by Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond fame), as well as Ricky, Bethany's boyfriend who makes a surprise visit. It is not long after their arrival that Tom and his cousin discover aliens on the roof top of the lakehouse who have come to invade earth.

It is then Tom and his cousins try to stop the aliens' invasion.

Bethany's boyfriend, Ricky (played by a guy called Robert Hoffman) has a device embedded in the back of his neck by the aliens, which is used to control him. Eventually, the remote control gets in to the hands of the cousins, who have Ricky do some incredibly funny stuff (he is not well liked by Tom or the cousins, so they give him a hard time - eg, have him slap himself in the face) and this is where my kids couldn't stop laughing.

Robert Hoffman, who plays Ricky, is incredibly funny in this film. I'm not sure I've ever seen him in anything else before, but he really does shine in this movie. I don't think our kids have ever laughed so much during a film. The 6yr old had the giggles big time. Even Hubby and I were laughing out loud in a number of places throughout.

The 3yr old handled all the slightly scary bits well. There was nothing in the film that made me jump (and I jump easily), so nothing overly frightening, but it would depend on your kids as to whether they would handle some of the suspense in the film. At one point, the aliens grow very large, but there's enough comedy going on to deflect from anything that might seem frightening.

For some reason, movies that are slightly scary have never really bothered my boys. Even at a young age, the big boys would watch something like the Polar Express without a problem, as well as Harry Potter (and there were scenes in the HP films that would freak me out)!

Apart from that, the film does have a positive message also. Tom doesn't like being a smart kid, because he wants to be cool like his friends (and not a nerdy "Mathlete" like he is), and we discover during the film he has purposely gotten bad grades so that he won't be teased. However, he discovers through the course of the film, after using his brain to work out ways in which to fight the aliens, that being smart has huge advantages, and it's an achievement to do so well in school.

In any case, it's a fun film, a good laugh and a HUGE hit here in the Ansted House. The 3yr old has already asked if he can watch it again!

Alvin and The Chipmunks (The Squeakquel)

2010-01-26T11:10:00.017+11:00

Rating: G

Running time: 88 minutes

Reviewed by: Jodie at Mummy Mayhem

I had the pleasure (*cough*) of taking my 5 & 7 year olds to see this movie last week. (At the time of publishing this post, it was still in cinemas in Australia.)

I was nervous. Much had been tweeted about this movie on Twitter. Basically, Mums were tweeting they'd rather take their 2 year olds food shopping or stick needles in their eyes rather than see this film. So, of course, I went with fists clenched, and breathe held waiting for the torture.

And for the first five minutes it was just that. TORTURE. Their voices are so amazingly HIGH and SQUEAKY - I had to stop myself from running from the theatre, hands clutched over my ears, crying in pain.

But once I got over the initial shock (you may now realise I haven't seen the first film, just snippets) I (sort of) relaxed in to it and went with it. Although, I don't know if it's age or not - but quite a number of times I had NO IDEA what they were saying. I had to strain my ears to hear, which, of course, didn't help trying to block out all the squealing going on. *sigh*

The story is pretty simple. Alvin and his brothers, Theodore and Simon, are on the rock concert scene when Alvin causes an accident, sending their adoptive father Dave off to hospital. They are sent to live with his Aunt, who also ends up in hospital thanks to Dave's nephew, and are therefore then placed in the care of the nephew - an irresponsible, non-working, non-motivated, game-playing, iPod-listening individual.

Alvin and his brothers pretty much fend for themselves and head to school. It is there they find themselves responsible for winning a $25,000 prize for the school in a singing concert.

Meanwhile, three young female chipmunks, who are sisters (of course) - Britney, Jeanette and Eleanor - hunt down The Chipmunk's ex-manager to seek fame and fortune for themselves. They also find themselves at the same school, and competing for the same prize.

Can I just say at this point, that chipmunks singing Beyonce is just wrong? So wrong.

Admittedly, the movie has some nice messages about family loyalty and responsibility - and having 3 boys who sometimes argue and sometimes (but certainly not always) act anything but loyal to one another - it was a message I was pleased to see in this film!

To be honest, from an adult's point of view, the acting from the human characters was ordinary. It seemed very robotic. But perhaps that's because they're acting with animated characters. Can't be the easiest of acting gigs, but then, there are other films that have managed this quite well.

But the kids LOVED it. I mean, really loved it. I was surprised, to be honest. But my boys said they even preferred it to Night at the Museum 2 - which is really saying something.

See if it you dare...but the kids will love it. :)

Hotel for Dogs

2010-01-24T15:00:00.013+11:00

Rating: PG

Reviewed by: Jodie at Mummy Mayhem

Last night's choice of movie was quite last minute. Hubby had decided the boys would love Spy Kids, so on the way home from the pool, I went on a hunt through the local Blockbuster store. I could find Spy Kids 2 and Spy Kids 3, but the first? M.I.A.

So I turned to recent releases and found Hotel for Dogs.

It's a tale of siblings - Andi and Bruce - who are foster kids trying to stay together and also keep their dog, Friday, out of sight from their foster parents. The thing is, Friday may be small, but he has a BIG appetite, so he's always running off in search of food. Hence, he finds himself in the dog pound one day.

Andi and Bruce find him just in the nick of time and save him from certain death in the pound, but it's this event that leads Andi to suggest to Bruce they find him a real home.

But it's during this conversation when Friday takes off again and, after following him, Andi and Bruce find themselves in an old abandoned hotel, where they not only find Friday, but two other dogs that seem to live there. They leave Friday with them, and return the next day.

Meanwhile, Andi (who, by the way, is played by Julia Robert's niece, Emma Roberts) is getting chummy with a guy in the local pet shop, Dave. After Andi lies to Dave, saying her parents are dog rescuers (she doesn't want him to know she's in foster care and her parents are no longer with her and Bruce), Dave decides that she is the best person to give his two rescue dogs to, and eventually, ends up helping her and Bruce with the dogs in the hotel.

All three end up teaming up with another pet shop employee and another guy to clean up the hotel and rescue even more stray dogs from the clutches of the local pound employees. Bruce, being quite a little scientist it seems, rigs up some amazing equipment to help their project, with one particular invention allowing the dogs to do their business on a sort of toilet, which is captured in a doggy doo-doo bag and instantly disposed of! (Got to get me one of those for our dog. Hmph.)

Eventually, their project is uncovered and it looks as though all the dogs, including Friday, will not survive the dog pound this time and a plan is hatched to save them.

Once again, my two big boys LOVED this movie. The 3 year old got a bit distracted again, but he watched most of the beginning, and most of the end. Hubby didn't enjoy this one so much, but I kinda liked it.

Beware: there is a kiss in this movie. Had my boys doing their usual, "Ewww - yuck! Kissing!" Tsk, tsk.

It should be noted that also starring in this film is Don Cheadle (Ocean's 11, Hotel Rwanda), Lisa Kudrow (Friends fame) and Kevin Dillon (Entourage).

Finding Nemo

2010-01-18T23:03:00.014+11:00

Rating: G

Reviewed by: Jodie at Mummy Mayhem

Seeing that this week we didn't get to have our family movie night (Hubby and I escaped to dinner for our 10 year wedding anniversary instead), I thought I'd review an old family favourite.

Finding Nemo is the Academy Award winning animated film by Pixar about a little fish called Nemo who, on his first day of school, is taken by a diver. His Dad, Marlin - a clownfish who becomes overprotective of his only son after he and Nemo's mother, Coral, lose the rest of their eggs when eaten by a barracuda - sees Nemo being taken by the divers and races off to rescue his son. Marlin, whilst frantically trying to keep up with the diver's boat, eventually meets Dory, a highly forgetful (and incredibly humorous) fish who teams up with Marlin to help him find Nemo.

Their search is challenged by meetings with sharks and jellyfish, but eventually, they make their way to Sydney, Australia with plans to bring Nemo home. Meanwhile, the diver who has captured Nemo is a dentist in Sydney, and he places Nemo in a fish tank with other fish who soon become his friends. Together, they try to hatch an escape plan for Nemo.

Finding Nemo has a great voice cast. Albert Brooks is Marlin, Ellen DeGeneres is Dory, Willen Dafoe voices Gill, Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond) voices Bloat (a puffer fish) and Geoffrey Rush voices Nigel, a pelican who takes Marlin to see Nemo. And that's just to name a few.

My 7yr old first watched this as a 3yr old. At that age, he used to refuse to watch a particular scene in the movie where Dory and Marlin find themselves in the very depths of the ocean, trying to retrieve the diver's mask so they can read the address of the diver on it, only to meet a spooky looking angler fish. With big, sharp teeth and brightly lit eyes, the 7yr old used to freak out, and it was ages before I saw that scene, as we always had to fast forward it! However, during the same time, our now 5yr old (who was around 18mths old at the time) had no problems watching it! But, it is a scene that may scare some kids.

Also worth noting is the scene at the beginning of the film when the barracuda attacks Coral and the eggs. It is quite scary - will make most adults jump!

But all in all, it's a really great family film. In my opinion, Ellen DeGeneres as Dory is a particular standout. Having seen the movie a million times, there are still some of her scenes that make me laugh out loud!

If you haven't seen it before, I guarantee you won't get bored. It's about a zillion times more pleasant than listening to a bunch of singing chipmunks!

Stuart Little

2010-01-11T08:17:00.012+11:00

Rating: G

Reviewed by: Jodie at Mummy Mayhem

Well, a movie just doesn't get any cuter than this one. From the moment you see Stuart Little on the screen (voiced by Michael J Fox), your heart will melt. Guaranteed.

Based on the novel of the same name, Stuart Little is the story of a little white mouse, Stuart, who is adopted by Mr & Mrs Little (played by Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie - of House fame) after meeting him at an orphanage when there to adopt a sibling for their son, George.

When George meets his new "brother", he's not impressed. Neither is the cat, Snowball. And hence begins the story of Stuart trying to blend in with his new family, and George learning the lessons of acceptance.

Eventually, Stuart and George begin to bond, and then circumstances lead Stuart Little away from his family. He tries to return, with almost disastrous consequences, brought on by Snowball, the very jealous and unimpressed family cat.

There are some great messages in this film. Learning to accept people no matter how they look, and to keep on trying and never give up.

All my 3 boys loved it. The 3 year old couldn't take his eyes away - for most of it anyway. The pizza cooking in the background eventually got him up from his seat.

But all in all - a winner. We'll be watching Stuart Little 2 next week I think!

Snow Dogs

2010-01-10T23:20:00.002+11:00

Rating: G

Reviewer: Jodie at Mummy Mayhem

Website: Mummy Mayhem's Family Movie Reviews

Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jnr plays a dentist, living in Miami, when he discovers he is adopted and his birth mother has died and left him something in her will. He travels to his birth place - Alaska - to hear the will and then hopefully sell anything he has to and then return home.

But of course, he gets there, meets some of the people and then discover's his birth mother's snow dogs. There are some humorous scenes when he first tries to get to know the dogs, especially the head dog called "Demon". (You know how some of those husky dogs have really evil eyes? Yep. Demon has that part down pat.)

Anyway, he then discovers who his birth father is, and the story really centers around him trying to take to the dogs as well as his father. He stays longer than expected, and gets in to a spot of bother along the way...

At the very beginning of this film, I couldn't help but cringe. The acting was a little animated for my liking, and then I realised I was watching, you know, a kid's film? It's been so long since I sat down and watched a movie with the kids, I forgot that the acting has to be a little more obvious for them.

It's a good ride, and our boys loved it. The 3 year old got a little bored towards the end (still doesn't have the attention span for a whole DVD yet, let alone a whole film) but is still talking about it, so that's a good sign.

And in any case, it was our first Family Movie & Pizza Night film...so will always have a special place in our hearts...