Puss in Boots (2011, U.S.)

Soooooooooo cute. I always thought that Puss in Boots was the best character from the Shrek movies, and now that I have two little orange fuzzballs of my own, I have to say I'm even more biased. Of course, the cat jokes were all hilarious to me (and to the friend I saw it with, who is not really a cat person). I laughed out loud several times. Antonio Banderas is such a good voice actor, and the rest of the cast was pretty good too. The plot was definitely weird. It involved Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, the goose that lays the golden eggs, Jack's beanstalk... it was bordering on ridiculous, but somehow it worked. The one negative thing I will say about it is that Humpty Dumpty is just creepy, in his looks, his mannerism, everything. I don't know why, but he made me think of a pedophile. So that was a bit off-putting.

I can't say enough about the main focus of this movie, however. Of course, that's Puss. He's one of those characters like Jack Sparrow who could salvage any movie. (Well okay, that's not a fair comparison, but I thought that was true of good old Jack until POTC4!) Totally worth it for Puss, Banderas, and funny cat jokes.

Rating: 4.0

Tangled (2010, U.S.)

I had heard lots of good things about this movie, and it was cute. The story is the basic Rapunzel story, except she's a whole lot more involved in her fate than in the tale I remember. Her standard Disney animal sidekick is a little chameleon named Pascal, who is absolutely adorable. Her adoptive mother is suitably evil. The prince of the story is replaced with a sort of charismatic highwayman named Flynn Rider, which added a lot to the story since he had his own set of problems to add to hers. (They meet as he flees from palace guards when he and two hulking cronies steal the kidnapped princess's crown from the castle.) The hulking cronies (who turn against Flynn quickly) are perfect specimens of grunting stupidity. Rapunzel is spunky and determined. The animation is bright and fetchingly done. (One element that I absolutely loved were the floating lanterns that the entire royal city released on the anniversary of the princess's birth, which were just breathtakingly beautiful and pure magic, even in animated form.) I liked the first person narration that framed the story with quasi-prologue/epilogues. The plot is pretty strong. The only thing I thought was weak was the songs, which were just okay, but they were no Aladdin or Little Mermaid or even Enchanted. Otherwise, good stuff.

Adventure, humor, romance, and a happy ending... It's typical Disney fare and enjoyable as these things go. A fun twist (or tangle) on a classic story.

Rating: 3.5

The Adventures of Milo and Otis (1986, Japan)

I remembered this movie very fondly from my childhood. I couldn't remember what it was about, other than the obvious cat/dog friendship. I decided to check it out from the library to "watch with my cats," two orange tabbies. This ended up being quite amusing, because one of them sat and watched almost the entire thing, and the other investigated for at least a few minutes.

You really have to appreciate the dedication of a crew that would spend four years filming live animals. I gather that there were some accusations of animal cruelty, but I don't know what came of that. It seemed to me that most of the action was realistic in terms of animals' real lives. I was surprised to see that the two had litters of kittens and puppies, which I don't recall from my childhood viewings. Still, it was done tastefully enough that a young child can watch it without figuring out what's going on (as I must have once).

I was shocked to find that I still loved this movie, which I have such fond memories of, as an adult. I think this is a wonderful, wonderful family movie. Very sweet. And two out of two cats agree!

Rating: 4.0

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (2005, U.S.)

I had to do it. Cute little Taylor Lautner! But I have to say, if I was a kid or had kids, I would really like this one.

The characters are really good. The main character is just an average boy with an extraordinary imagination. The heroes aren't the most heroic; they have flaws. Lavagirl is clumsy and Sharkboy alternates between tough, vulnerable, funny and a smartass. (He's even part animal... Jacob Black much?) So adorable.

The characters, adventures, and scenery seemed to come right out of a kid's mind (which in fact it did—it came from the mind of the director's son). I bet it looked really awesome in 3-D.

I can't decide whether to call a lot of the jokes cheesy or corny, because there was definitely a lot of food involved in the scenery especially. Either way, it was fun. And I loved the bad puns, especially the ones from Mr. Electric, the villain (aka Mr. Electricidad, the teacher).

In addition to all the fun and adventure, there was a good message to kids about keeping their dreams and making the important ones into reality. Sweet little movie, good for boys and girls.

Rating: 3.5

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009, U.S.)

I can essentially judge this one for itself and not by its book, since I barely remember the picture book.

Basically Flint thinks he's a genius inventor, but something goes wrong with all of his inventions. Sam wants to be a weather reporter but needs a scoop for her career to take off. When the island of Swallow Falls loses its main industry (sardines), Flint's invention that turns water into food takes off, Flint gets the recognition he wants, Sam gets her scoop, and Swallow Falls gets on the map.

This was a cute movie, but it wasn't the funniest animated movie I've ever seen. Some of it was a little over the top, some of it was gross funny (not my kind of funny), and some of it was actually funny. So overall, not bad.

Rating: 3.0

Shrek Forever After (2010, U.S.)

I was kind of surprised how complicated this plot was for a family movie. Shrek is having a mid-life crisis (in itself a rather strange plot for a kid flick). He is constantly surrounded by his his wife, three children, best friend, and best friend's three children. It gets monotonous, and he misses being a real ogre. So he makes a deal with Rumplestilskin to go back to being a real ogre for today. In exchange, he gives Rumplestilskin one day of his past. Rumple is a tricky bugger and he takes the day Shrek was born. This somehow results in the King and Queen signing Far Far Away over to Rumple as well.

In the alternate universe, Fiona was never saved from the tower and she is the leader of an ogre resistance against Rumple. Rumple has a witch army, and they're pretty amusing, as is Rumple. (He has a business wig and an angry wig, for starters.) But the plot was convoluted and hard to follow, and the jokes were few and far between. It was okay, but not nearly as good as the first, second, or third Shreks. The score wasn't too bad, and it reused some themes from the earlier movies, which lent some continuity.

And then we wait for true love's kiss, yadda yadda. Eh. Perhaps it didn't help that I was crammed into a theater full of kids.

Rating: 3.0

Hook (1991, U.S.)

I am a huge Peter Pan fan. I like the old Mary Martin version, I like the Disney cartoon version, I like the 2003 version (with Jason Isaacs as Hook!), I like Finding Neverland... I just love Peter Pan. I've never seen Hook, however. (I remember something about it being inappropriate for children, and I wouldn't have been allowed to watch it.)

On one hand, I thought the concept of this film was pretty interesting. Peter Pan finds something worth leaving Neverland for, grows up, has his own children. On the other hand, I don't think that scenario is consistent with the Pan character. And even if it was, I don't think he ever would have become a high powered corporate executive. Because of this, none of the rest of the film fell into place.

I did love Maggie Smith as Granny Wendy, and the concept of her becoming a rescuer of orphans. She was great. However, I've never really cared for Robin Williams, and I didn't like his Pan. And while I do like Dustin Hoffman, he just isn't a hook, like Cyril Richards or Jason Isaacs. Lastly, the Lost Boys just aren't the loveable, adventurous, stereotypical boys they are in other versions, with the exception of one or two of them. Mostly they were a rude mass, rather than adorable individuals.

The last thing I wanted to mention was the music. The whole time, I kept thinking it sounded familiar. This is usually a good sign that I know the composer. However, when it sounds this familiar, it's usually a good sign that John Williams did the composing. Well, surprise surprise, he did! Which explains why it sometimes sounded like the mischievous music from Home Alone and sometimes like the more mystical themes from Star Wars. Still, it was pretty good music for Neverland. (Though nothing can touch the score written by James Newton Howard for the 2003 version.)

To summarize, my general reaction to this movie was "Eh." A swing and a miss for Spielberg, I'd say.

Rating: 2.5

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008, U.S.)

This is going to be short and sweet. Of all the Pixar-esque films in the worlds, I have to say that DreamWorks Animation takes the cake with the Madagascar movies. Luckily, they didn't wear out the material in this sequel—there was old mixed with new in the perfect quantities. The voice talent is incredible. They are absolutely hilarious. They were written by adults for children and are good for children but also have jokes for adults. The scores are composed by the brilliant Hans Zimmer.

Oh yeah, and those penguins!

This is what we call laugh-out-loud funny.

Rating: 4.0

The Goonies (1985, U.S.)

Apparently I am not a true child of my generation since I had yet to see The Goonies. So now I've seen it, and all is right with the world again.

I have to say, it wasn't terrible. It was a good adventure story, and the acting wasn't that bad, for a bunch of kids. Sean Astin was absolutely adorable, and his character was completely believable. I still can't believe that was Josh Brolin playing his older brother—the last film I saw him in was W. Of course, the one I loved the most was Jonathan Ke Quan, who most people would know as Short Round. His character was quite similar to that in Temple of Doom, but with a James Bond twist. Very cute! The interaction between all of the kids was really well played, as if they really had known each other their whole lives.

The story was a cool adventure for young kids (and I guess older ones too). Hidden tunnels, opera singing villians, pirate ships, and, perhaps most importantly, kids who are able to do something to save their neighborhood—but in a cool way. Most of the "even the smallest person can do big things" stories don't involve such fun adventures that the average child would love to participate in.

I think the thing I liked the least about the whole thing was Sloth. Without him, you could almost believe that this all may happen to a group of neighborhood kids, but with "the thing" wandering around, it just doesn't seem as realistic.

Still, I can definitely see why this one was so popular in the '80s.

Rating: 3.0

The Tale of Despereaux (2008, U.S.)

I went to see this one with my mom, who teaches fourth grade and loves this book. It's hard to look at a kids' movie objectively, because what engages the young mind and what engages the adult mind are two entirely different things. However, I can say that as kids' movies go, this one was probably up there.

The voice talent was definitely great. Ciarán Hinds, Robbie Coltrane, and Emma Watson were all great choices. I would say that Dustin Hoffman was born to be a voice actor. Matthew Broderick (Despereaux, ironically) I could have lived without. I've never been a huge fan of his. Also, it is very strange to have an adult man's voice coming out of a mouse who is supposed to be a kid.

Perhaps I look down on children too much, but it seemed like the plot was fairly complex for the genre, thought I appreciated this aspect. I loved how the lives of three main characters were tied together, how there was a bit of mystery and suspense, how the princess was just a supporting role. One interesting thing was that Despereaux was almost nauseatingly moralistic; I wish the lessons could have been more subtle. Still, they were good lessons—even the smallest person can have the stoutest heart, doing the right thing, the importance of family, being oneself.

Since I clearly don't have a very structured opinion of this movie, I'll just toss in a few more random, un-review-like comments. First, it is incredible to me how many chidlren's stories revolve around soup. Second, what is with this need to animate inanimate objects? When you already have talking mice and rats, do you really need to have a random collection of vegetables and other culinary debris turn into a genie sidekick? But then, what do I know? Maybe kids love that stuff.

Rating: 3.0

Dinotopia (2002, U.S.)

One guess as to why I picked this one out. The correct answer would be Wentworth Miller. I finished re-watching the first three seasons of Prison Break this summer break, and I was ready for a Wentworth fix. Since season four doesn't start for another week, I started looking for films. And I discovered this rare gem of a kid's movie, made-for-tv, and starring a 30-year-old Went as one of two teenage brothers who are in a plane crash and find themselves on a strange island called Dinotopia. The inhabitants of this island include both humans and dinosaurs, who coexist in peace. It's based on a series of books for children.

And it was actually quite great, as kids' movies go. Quite refreshing after some of the crap Disney has churned out in recent years. What an amazing undertaking. Nearly 3/4 of the film had to have some sort of CGI becauses of all the dinousaurs, and the actors did an amazing job of acting to the air, I think. Of course, the CGI dinosaurs were not what you would expect were you thinking Jurassic Park. They're much less terrifying—even the T Rexes. Even their appearance is brief and as minimally frightening as possible.

Of course, you have to give it a little flexibility in judgement, since it is a non-rated movie for children. For instance, as an older viewer, I would have liked to know what brother the girl chose in the end, since one of them kissed her and one of them told her he was falling in love with her. I guess the younger viewers don't care about those things though. Or the fact that some of the dialogue was exceedingly cheesy. Or the fact that the story really beats you over the head with its "lesson."

But despite these things, or maybe because of them, I really did like this movie. It was really a great fantasy world for children, with beautiful scenery that could really insipire a young imagination. It was four hours long, and I found myself wishing that it could be even longer. In fact, I liked it so much that before I even got to disk two, I was asking my mom if she would be allowed to show this movie to her fourth-graders.

Perhaps I've just had so much adult-type stress in my life recently that I needed to feel like a kid again. This was the way to go.

Ratin: 4.0

Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998, U.S.)

So today I was babysitting my friend's 4-year-old daughter, Krisna, and I was lucky enough to get to see Pocahontas II... right. Now, I loved the first Pocahontas when it came out. I was in 5th grade, and my class saw it on a field trip. I was already a bit of a history nut in those days, and Virginia history was my favorite. I read every book about Pocahontas I could get my hands on. Even at that tender age, I recognized the historical inaccuracies of the movie, but I liked it. My friend Tanvi and I sang "Colors of the Wind" for our fifth grade talent show.

But enough reminiscing. The second Pocahontas was even more liberal with history than the first, I thought. Still, for a kids' movie, it was okay. Pretty intense stuff though -- bear baiting, John Smith and John Rolfe breaking Pocahontas out of the Tower of London... Oh, and Shakespeare randomly appearing in the street. Too strange. Also, the songs weren't as good as the first one. "In 1607, we sailed the open sea / For glory, God, and gold, and the Virginia Company!" Can't beat that. Also, I've always been a John Smith fan, and not so fond of John Rolfe. So kind of hard to like the one where she falls in love with him.

Also, I knew, I knew, that John Rolfe sounded like Billy Zane. Turns out it was Billy Zane. Really, I think he's a great actor, although he's been in some pretty awful films. He was, of course, amazing in Titanic. Then a year later, he's doing voices for a not-so-great, straight-to-video, Disney movie. There's just no explanation.

Rating: 2.5