Rated: G . Grade: DDCD=D
Directed by: Disney, Stephen J. Anderson, who previously did art for Emperor’s New Groove and Brother Bear.
Starring: The voices of Angela Bassett, Daniel Hansen, Jordan Fry, Matthew Josten, Laurie Metcalf, and Stephen J. Anderson.
Summary: Lewis is an orphan who is losing hope of ever being adopted because he is strange and super-brilliant at inventing. At a science fair, he is confronted by a good guy from the future is here to protect him from a bad guy from the future, which, of course, is where they go and meet a very strange family indeed.
Entertainment Value: D Chaos. Pure chaos. That’s the one thing I can tell you about this film. It’s the visual equivalent of the Insane Clown Posse. The last ten minutes of the movie finally make some sense, but it’s uninterrupted confusion and mayhem until then. We almost quit watching at several points, and the only reason it’s not an F is because the ending finally tied things up together. But that still doesn’t justify the movie.
Superficial Content: D Drugs/Alcohol A, Sexuality A, Violence C, Language A, Illegality B. How can an AACAB movie get a D for superficial content? Because it’s rated G, and I am in total disgust at this rating. Remember, in kids movies, my standards really tighten up, and I will mark a movie down significantly just for being chaotic, which I already said this is. Many scary scenes, such as whirling death blades, Tyrannosaurus Rex attacking and trying to eat people, people turned into zombies by mind-controlling bowler-hats, one character telling a child to nurture his hate, a man married to a puppet, and the movie starts off with a mother abandoning an infant. This is not a movie for any young children. It should surely be PG and perhaps even PG-13.
Significant Content: C There are two decent lessons here. One is that everybody has a place where they will belong. The other is that we should view failure as a good thing from which we can learn, whereas success rarely teaches us anything. But lying, deception, and breaking promises are common tactics used in the movie, even if in the end honesty prevails. But, again, the movie is so frantic that one of it’s primary lessons is just to normalize mayhem.
Artistic/Thought Value: D There is no age for whom this film is good. For anyone under 12, it’s just too crazy. For anyone over 12, it’s a silly animated movie meant for younger kids.
Discussion Questions:
~Why is it important to only make promises you intend to keep and to keep all the promises you make?
~Is it always a good thing to forget the past and move on? When can it be better to forget the past? Is failure always good and success always pointless?
~What do you think of Lewis’s decision about his mother at the end of the movie?
~Have you ever felt like people had trouble loving you for whom you are instead of for whom they want you to be?
~How is the bowler hat like sin or the devil? Are there really bad people, or are bad people just good people under the wrong influences?
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Overall Grade: D, but almost DNF many times.
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