Just So Stories

With the holidays coming up there will be plenty planning movie outings, and also, I know I used to post something for my parents on the library webpage as well as in the newsletter. I had a prompt this week to do so again, but I’ll come to that.

First up, last week (release day, first session!) The Kid and I went to see the new live-action How to Train Your Dragon. We had both been doggedly following progress and updates waiting not-quite-patiently and I have to say we both absolutely loved it! Top notch.

The screen writing, the casting, the effects all truly excellent. Mason Thames as Hiccup – couldn’t have chosen better. Nico Parker made a great Astrid. I understand from The Kid that there were many ill-mannered and racist rumblings about casting someone not blonde and fair-skinned – pfffffffffft to those ignoramuses! Julian Fellowes as Fishlegs- fast becoming NZ’s favourite son I reckon- he is just a scene-stealer in everything he does,that young man. And Gerard Butler and Nick Frost, as Stoick and Gobber respectively – bloody brilliant as Ron would say.

The dragons were superb and Toothless – well, we both still want one of our own. I know that Cressida Cowell was immensely pleased with the result and I can see why.

Now, bear in mind, it’s not as ‘light’ as the animated movies. The dynamic between Stoick and Hiccup, which is such a common theme – Father not thinking Son is ‘good/able/clever/talented’ enough – requires some more complex understanding than in the earlier ones. But it is extremely well done and there are the usual moments of real levity – Gobber/Nick Frost in particular is fabulous. We gave it a 10/10 but for the purposes of consistency it’s a unqualified 5 🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉 rating for kiddos from around 10 upwards.

For younger viewers we saw trailers for Elio – a sci-fi Disney/Pixar production. The trailer made no sense to us so it would be hard to make a comment but I’m guessing a non-critical Small would like it -it’s certainly colourful. From Rotten Tomatoes: For centuries, people have called out to the universe looking for answers–in Disney and Pixar’s all-new feature film “Elio,” the universe calls back! The cosmic misadventure introduces Elio, a space fanatic with an active imagination and a huge alien obsession. So, when he’s beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide, Elio’s all in for the epic undertaking. Mistakenly identified as Earth’s leader, Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions, and somehow discover who and where he is truly meant to be.

Then there’s the new Smurfs movie. The appeal of the Smurfs never seems to diminish. I did find it hilarious that the big ‘selling point’ is that Rihanna voices Smurfette. I’d be interested to know how many Smalls know who she is! Again, I think the Smalls will like – just the usual Smurfs against Gargamel and Razamel. In this one, Papa Smurf is kidnapped and Smurfette leads a rescue mission in the real world to recover him. There’s a stellar cast of voices (aside from Rihanna) including John Goodman, Octavia Spencer and Kurt Russell (!!).

Then we have yet another Lilo & Stitch, this time a live-action, which I’ve seen variously described as pointless, a waste of time and ‘sanitised’. This review from ABC echoes the comments of many and is definitely very much worth reading. Personally, I wouldn’t bother wasting my money either.

And now Jurassic Park: Rebirth. And I come to the prompt for this post. I saw during the week someone, who ought to know better, referencing this new (and reputedly final in the franchise) JP, context being in connection with kids.

We are die-hard JP fans here for sure. The Kid is, after all, her mother’s daughter. Jen was an avid dinosaur lover from a Small and loved the JP movies. Now The Kid does too and has just finished reading both books (they were BETTER than the movies, she told me triumphantly, making my heart sing!) but as she points out being the dedicated researcher of upcoming films, this new movie, in particular, is most definitely not appropriate for children. One of our favourite ‘Mummy’ stories, is how after Jen saw the first JP, aged around 15 – SO excited about it being such a dinosaur-phile !! – she was absolutely in fear of velociraptors coming through her bedroom window, so slept with a hammer under her bed. When she died, we all really had to laugh, when we found the current hammer under her bed. And The Kid saying in the midst of her grief ‘When Mummy gets to heaven, she will love to see the dinosaurs – but NOT the velociraptors’. Sometimes, you just have to laugh really….

Despite America’s P-13 ratings (well, that says a lot doesn’t it when you look at their current s***show) the violence and graphic content in all of the movies have warranted M ratings here. The new one has: People get dismembered on screen, blood splatters in almost every kill, a terrifying velociraptor+pterondon hybrid chases someone before eventually biting them in the neck, the rest is off screen but you can hear screaming and flesh ripping. Someone’s face gets sliced off by a dinosaurs claw, most is vague but has extremely disturbing audio (pleading screaming, the mans vocal cords being ripped causes the screams to sound disorted.) Human corpses are shown with one having a disfigured face. Much more gore. And also – plentiful profanity, some suggestiveness and drug use. I think our M rating is far more attuned.

That being said I’m sure the same parents who took 6/7 year olds to see The Barbie Movie (because, you know, it’s Barbie!) will take their Smalls to this too. I would suggest that it’s neither appropriate nor wise for younger kids, and that definitely mid-teens up are the best audience for it.

Of course, we can’t wait – and will, no doubt, be at the cinema on the first day. The whole movie scene has been quite dead this year IMO so it was nice to actually get back to the cinema for an outing and have another one to anticipate.