19. The Smurfs

The Smurfs
Directed by Raja Gosnell
Columbia Pictures, 2011

Genre
Adventure, Comedy

Awards
None Known

Review
The Smurf village is happily planning their Blue Moon Festival when Papa Smurf sees a disturbing vision about what will happen in the future.  Not long after, Gargamel and his cat Azrael show up in the village, scattering the Smurfs as they run for their lives! Clumsy Smurf goes the wrong direction and a handful of others, including Papa Smurf and Smurfette (voiced by Katy Perry), decide they needed to try to catch him.  They stumble into a cave where a mysterious portal opened due to the rise of the Blue Moon.  Gargamel and Azrael catch up, but the Smurfs escape through the portal, where the villains quickly follow.  All the characters end up in New York and stumble into the lives of cosmetic company VP, Patrick Winslow (Neil Patrick Harris) and his pregnant wife, Grace Winslow.  The Smurfs are in desperate need of finding a "stargazer" (telescope), a spell book (which turns out to be a book of their comic strips), and an incantation to summon a Blue Moon and open another portal to return home, before Gargamel and Azrael catch them!  While trying to accomplish this, the Smurfs, especially Clumsy Smurf, constantly get in the way of Patrick completing an important work project, causing him to express his frustration and worry about having a baby.  A cute family movie, definitely geared more for children than their parents, that shows people can have more than one trait and even Clumsy can be a hero!

Opinion
While the idea behind Patrick's anxieties of becoming a father may have been intended to keep the parents engaged in what is mostly a children's movie, it fell a little short of the mark and took up screen time with scenes that may be lost on the children viewers.  As I am mostly unfamiliar with the Smurf world, I can't speak to the accuracy of how the Smurfs were portrayed, but there was enough information included in the movie for those unfamiliar with their world to follow along.  Katy Perry being a voice actor and Neil Patrick Harris playing the main human character may be large draws for the tween crowds.

Ideas
This is good movie to show during family movie days at public libraries.  The theme that people can change and don't always have to be what people think they are (Clumsy managing to save the day in the end) is predictable, but a good message nonetheless.

17. Hercules

Hercules
Directed by Brett Ratner
Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, 2014

Genre
Action, Adventure, Legend

Awards
None Known

Review
A brand new telling of the legend of Hercules shows that he doesn't always fight his battles alone.  He has a group of friends and skilled fighters, who stand by him.  The story opens showing some of the great feats Hercules was said to have accomplished, but quickly comes back to present times to find the storyteller is the nephew of Hercules who has been captured by pirates and is trying to delay their attempt to kill him while waiting for Hercules to come rescue him.  The movie continues from there, always hinting that Hercules may or may not really be the son of Zeus, but all that mattered was that his legend lived on so it went ahead of him, casting fear into the hearts of his enemies and inspiring courage in his allies.  The movie also references Hercules's family being killed and that he was banned from Athens, accused of their murder, which lead him to become a mercenary for hire.  A cleaver balance of humor and action/adventure was shown, humor mainly being shown by the character Tydeus, but also at times by others in Hercules's party.  This movie is rated PG-13 due to brief nudity (a quick flash of a woman disrobing from the back and showing her bare buttocks), intense battle scenes and violence, and language.  This telling of the Hercules legend is based on The Thracian Wars comic series by Radical Comics and can certainly be enjoyed by newcomers to the Hercules story, but those who have followed previous shows, movies, or other tellings made about this legend may see references in the movie.

Opinion
I was surprised this movie was rated PG-13.  The battle scenes were intense, but showed little blood.  There were certainly many dead bodies, including those of children showed up close, and heads on spikes.  There was a flash of brief nudity and language concerns including a handful of uses of the word "shit" and a use of the "f-word".  Parental discretion is definitely advised with this movie, as this may be considered absolutely appropriate by some parents and absolutely not by others.  That aside, I think this movie was certainly appealing to the tween group due to the casting of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Hercules and the heavy action in the film.  The 3D effects were a little overwhelming at the beginning, but were very enjoyable and well-timed for the rest of the movie.  Humor was well-used, having Tydeus being a consistent relief during fighting scenes.

Ideas
I would certainly recommend parents to look into this movie before deciding if it is appropriate for their tween to see, whether alone or with an adult.  It is a good addition to the anthology of Hercules retellings and will be a good addition to a mythology display (after it is released on DVD) to hopefully attract older patrons.

11. The Lego Movie

The Lego Movie
Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Warner Bros. Pictures, 2014

Genre
Adventure, Comedy

Honors
None known

Review
Vitruvius, a wizard in the Lego universe tries to stop the evil President Business from getting his hands on a weapon that could freeze the world as they knew it in place forever, the Kragle.  When he fails, he tells President Business of a prophecy, that one day, someone called "the Special" would find the Piece of Resistance and stop him from using the Kragle.  The Special would be "the most talented, most interesting, and most extraordinary person in the world".  Years later, Emmet is introduced. He is just your average construction worker in the Lego universe; he love all the popular things, loved to follow directions, and thought President Business was awesome! One night at his construction site, he falls down a hole and finds the Piece of Resistance, but passes out after seeing a vision of "the man upstairs".  When he wakes up, he doesn't remember what happened.  He is told by Bad Cop/Good Cop what happened and is then promptly rescued by WyldStyle, a girl who was looking for the Piece of Resistance.  When she realizes how ordinary Emmet is, she is dissappointed, but still takes him to see Vitruvius to see how they can save the world.  This unlikely hero changes the minds of everyone he groups up with (including Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, President Lincoln, the Green Lantern, a pirate made of junk named Metal Beard, Princess Unikitty, and Benny the astronaut), showing them that ordinary people can be "the Special" sometimes.

Opinion
I thought this was a cute movie with a sweet premise.  Younger tweens will love the super heroes and Legos while older tweens and adults will understand the interaction between the father and son later in the movie and enjoy the humor of Batman and how things are named.  The writers cleverly created a colorful and imaginative Lego universe on a table in a family's basement.

Ideas
This is a wonderful movie for all ages.  Parents are shown the creativity of their children may sometimes trump their preferred orderliness and routine.  Tweens are shown that everyone can be special sometimes.  They are also shown that there is a time for being creative and independant and a time for following directions to work together.

2. Maleficent

Maleficent
Directed by Robert Stromberg
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2014

Genre
Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retelling

Honors
None known

Review
This movie is a retelling of Disney's Sleeping Beauty from the prospective of Maleficent, the protagonist in the original film.  The story follows Maleficent as a young girl enjoying her wings, the freedom of her land (the Moors), and befriending a young human boy named Stephan.  Humans were not allowed in the Moors due to a history of war between the two lands, until Stefan begins spending time with Maleficent.  The two grow up and Maleficent falls in love with him, but Stefan sees a chance to become king in his own realm if he can prove Maleficent is dead.  He drugs her one night, but can’t bring himself to kill her, so he cuts off her wings for his prize.  He goes on to become king, marrying the princess and having a daughter named Aurora.  Maleficent shows up at the celebration of Aurora's birth and curses her to fall into a coma at 16 after pricking her finger on a spinning needle.  But as Maleficent watches the child, she unintentionally grows fond of her and tries to remove the curse, but fails.  This movie has beautiful scenery, but is very dark at times.  It has a general theme of overcoming that can speak to many audiences, though younger children may be frightened at times.  This is a must-see for any fairy tale lovers.

Opinion
Many reviewers, and even Angelina Jolie, consider the scene where Maleficent's wings are stolen by Stefan to be a rape metaphor.  While nothing graphic is shown, this is a very dark scene and can cause a deep emotional reaction.  I feel that most tweens will focus more on the literal occurrences in the movie, but this interpretation is certainly something to be aware of.  Angelina Jolie played her part very well, though most of her character was portrayed through actions and CGI; she spoke much less than I thought she would.  Her facial expressions and behaviors did a good job of portraying her character's feelings without introducing the presence of a narrator reminiscing.  I felt that the characters aside from Maleficent were very non-dimensional and unexplored, and even Maleficent was slightly shallow (though certainly more complete than the others).  The 3-D effects seemed in good taste, not overused or ineffective, and the scenery was believable and beautiful.

Ideas
This is a good family movie, but likely not something to let children watch alone.  This film may provoke discussion about some of the "big questions": why do bad things happen to good people and why do people do bad things? It's a good example of overcoming a desire for revenge and remembering who you are outside of anger.