Martin Scorsese's foray into the fantasyland of children's cinema via Brian Selznick's delightful children's graphic novel "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" is a visually and emotionally rich love letter to the creativity of French filmmaker Georges Méliès. Scorsese tempers the Dickensian story of Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), a 12-year-old orphan living a secret life within the walls of Paris's Gare Montparnasse train station in 1931. After the death of his father Hugo is abandoned by his uncle and left to care for the station's giant clocks surreptitiously. As menacing as Sacha Baron Cohen's orphan-hunting Station Inspector pretends to be, he has a big soft spot as revealed in his shy courtship of Lisette (Emily Mortimer), a flower seller in the station who understands his insecurity about wounds received during World War I. Hugo's other adversary is the station's cantankerous toy seller Georges Méliès (Ben Kingsley). Hugo steals little things from Méliès' shop from time to time to refurbish a clockwork robot passed down from his father. A ray of hope enters Hugo's life when he's befriended by Méliès's goddaughter Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz). Isabelle takes Hugo on adventures such as sneaking into a cinema to watch Harold Lloyd's great silent comedy "Safety Last." Scorsese's signature attention to detail comes through in every scene. From Howard Shore's persuasive musical score to Sandy Powell's brilliant costume design, "Hugo" is a lush cinematic adventure for families to savor. Romance, poetry, mystery, and ingenuity seep from every frame. There’s no point in waiting ten years to call “Hugo” a classic.
Rated PG. 126 mins. (A) (Five Stars - out of five/no halves)
Some dolphins are luckier than others. After getting caught in a crab trap off the coast of Florida, a wounded dolphin named Winter gets rescued on the beach by a boy named Sawyer (Nathan Gamble). Members of the nearby Clearwater Marine Hospital help transport the sociable dolphin to their facility where they hope to rehabilitate the wounded mammal. Sadly, Winter's damaged tale has to be removed. Harry Connick, Jr. plays Dr. Clay Haskett, whose gregarious daughter Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff) befriends Sawyer. Hazel invites Sawyer to spend his summer days helping with Winter's recovery. Hope comes for Winter's survival when a local prosthetics doctor (Morgan Freeman) generously agrees to design a prosthetic tail to help Winter swim without damaging the animal’s delicate spine. "Dolphin Tale" is a sweet children's movie. There are no big explosions, rude humor, or green-eyed monsters -- just a heartwarming true story about people who care for one very special dolphin. Ashely Judd and Kris Kristofferson also star.
Rated PG. 112 mins. (B) (Three Stars - out of five/no halves)
You can hardly blame Disney for imbuing its most recently minted animated classic with the 3D treatment in order to introduce "The Lion King" to new audiences. If only it weren't for the inflated ticket price that comes with it, "The Lion King 3D" would represent a welcome revival of a kids movie that combines a strong story with memorable songs and lush use of animation and color that is nothing short of stunning. For audiences unfamiliar with the story, it follows the adventures of a young lion cub named Simba (voiced wonderfully by Matthew Broderick). As the only son of regional African lion King Mufasa (James Earl Jones), Simba is just beginning to learn important life lessons from his imperious father when Mufasa's jealous brother Scar (Jeremy Irons) carries out a coup d’état that leaves Simba without a home and stripped of his birthright to the throne of the African plain known as Pride Rock. In exile Simba makes friends with an unlikely couple of jungle-dwellers. A meerkat named Timon (Nathan Lane) and a warthog known as Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella) teach Simba the pleasures an insect-based diet while he grows to adulthood. A reunion of sorts with his childhood girlfriend Nala inspires Simba to return to his homeland and claim his magisterial title. Although too frightening for younger audiences to support its G-rating, “The Lion King” is a children’s movie that holds up over time.
Rated PG. 87 mins. (B+) (Four Stars - out of five/no halves)
"Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer" is all over the place, and not in a good way. You'd never guess the movie is based on a series of children's books because the storyline is so slipshod as to be nearly non-existent. Here is a kids' movie with ADD. It's just a collection of unbelievably dim-witted set pieces. Judy Moody (Jordana Beatty) is an excitable (read spastic) eight-year-old kid looking forward to all the fun summer vacation from school can bring. Her best friends are going off to circus school and to Borneo. Judy nearly goes ballistic when she learns that her parents are going on vacation without her. Instead, Judy is stuck with her obnoxious little brother Stink under the care of her long-lost aunt Opal (played by a slumming Heather Graham). New Age Opal is as close to a modern-day hippie as you could imagine. So Judy gets an adult partner-in-crime to help salvage her sense of fun by earning "thrill points" in her self-designed game of doing things like riding a roller-coaster without using her hands. She also wants to walk over a stream on a not-so-tight-rope. Postcards from her friends about their glorious achievements ignites a competitive fire under to her meek aspirations for excitement. A truly uninspired subplot involving a search for Bigfoot figures prominently into the spastic plot. Stink is a believer. A flood of neon colors fills the screen to the point of creating a vomit-inducing palette of gaudy visual overload. Even as a remedial kids' movie, this one fails.
Rated PG. 91 mins. (D-) (Zero Stars - out of five/no halves)
Consciously lightweight in its approach to kid-humor "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" is nonetheless a balanced children's comedy. This second installment in the "Wimpy Kid" franchise finds boy-with-a-diary Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) failing to escape constant pranking from his older brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick). The sibling's parents (played by Steve Zahn and Rachel Harris) offer "mom-bucks" for every trouble-free hour the boys spend together. The plot device turns out to be a ruse. Rodrick plays drums for an annoying band called "Loded Diaper." Greg wants to make time with the new girl in school. Childhood ambition is the driving force in a story about how the brothers mutually discover how to help one another. Gordon and Bostick carry the movie. There's enough chemistry between them for young audiences to get caught up in the rivalry. "Rodrick Rules" might not be high art, but it is a perfectly sound kid's movie.
Rated PG. 96 mins. (B-) (Three Stars - out of five/no halves)
A vast improvement over the 2005 franchise introduction of co-writer/actress Emma Thompson's Mary-Poppinsish household savior, "Nanny McPhee Returns" finds modern-day meaning in its World War II era English trappings. Gone is the garish fluorescent neon color palate, and mean-spirited themes that attended the poorly contrived initial installment. Where "Nanny McPhee" was based on the first of Christianna Brand's "Nurse Matilda" books, the sequel departs from the series to find the diabolically unsightly nanny coming to the aid of farm-owner Isabel Green (excellently played by Maggie Gyllenhaal). With her husband (Ewan McGregor) away at war, Isabel already has her hands full with three children (Norman, Megsie, and Vincent) before playing host to their hoity-toity London cousins, a brother and sister with a low regard for such a manure-entrenched environment. With her handy magical cane and unsightly unibrow, Nanny McPhee arrives to make good on her promise to inculcate the unruly children with her "five lessons" that will leave the family members "wanting," but not "needing" her continued service. The ever-vivacious Maggie Smith adds her own distinctive flair as Mrs. Docherty, Isabel's shop owner-boss whose lacking sense of neatness is a major obstacle.
Rated PG. 109 mins. (B) (Three Stars - out of five/no halves)
In this sequel to the 2001 original, Kitty Galore (voiced by Bette Midler) is the hairless (ugly as sin) feline mastermind who plans to enslave the world via a satellite signal that will drive dogs, and consequently their human masters, crazy. If only the writers had stuck to copying the James-Bond formula the story borrows from, the CGI-assisted animals might have come more to empathetic life. Since going sour on working with MEOWS (Mousers Enforcing Our World Safety) super-spy group, Kitty is set up to do some science-fiction-scale damage unless our technology savvy team of specially trained cats and dogs can work together to stop her. The premise is slim as the action is silly, and the comedy corny. For a mediocre brand of children's action/comedy, "Cats & Dogs" accomplishes its not-so-lofty goal with honors. The best part of the movie is the James-Bond-homage credit sequence over a slick reworked version of Shirley Bassey singing "Get the Party Started."
Rated PG. 82 mins. (C) (Two Stars - out of five/no halves)
Screenwriting team Laurie Craig and Nick Pustay expertly adapt from Beverly Cleary's children's novels to render a perfectly pitched G-rated family movie. Young newcomer Joey King gives an unquestionable performance as nine-year-old Ramona, the accident-prone middle daughter to a Portland family led by John Corbett and Bridget Moynahan. Didactic without being preachy, the film softly sets down examples of mature behavior around such touchy issues as job loss, anger management, death, and exerting one's individuality. If that sounds like heady stuff for a well-constructed kids' movie, know that there are equal doses of goofy playtime shenanigans that figure ever so gently into the film's organic themes of social interaction. There are plenty of great moments where director Elizabeth Allen skirts stereotypes and smuggles exposition with a sense of dramatic flair. Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Duhamel give credible performances as a star-crossed couple who decide to take a chance on love. "Beezus and Ramona" is easily the best family movie of the year, so far.
Rated G. 104 mins. (B) (Four Stars - out of five/no halves)
A low-impact kid's comedy, "Marmaduke" may have little in common with the comic strip upon which it's based but remains a perfectly viable flick for dog-loving families. Owen Wilson makes the movie happen as the fun-loving voice of the great dane who famously hates water. With plenty of dumb puns, the straight-line story barely ever hits a plot point in a movie that coasts on its primary conceit of watching dogs talk and interact as if they had a frontal lobe. Marmaduke's master Phil Winslow (Lee Pace) moves his wife (Judy Greer) and three kids from Kansas to Orange County, California to head up a marketing launch for "Bark Organics," the dog food company that pays his bills. Also along for the ride is the family cat, a Russian Blue named Carlos (voiced with great humor by George Lopez). Keifer Sutherland does a smoky grizzled voice for the local dog park alpha canine Bosco. Tom Dey ("Shanghai Noon") produced and directed this innocent family movie that critics will love to hate, and little tikes will just love.
Rated PG. 87 mins. (B-) (Three Stars - out of five/no halves)
Soft-peddled father issues, and race relations get coasted over like so much conveyor-belt product in director William Dear's oh-so-safe kids' romantic sports drama. Corbin Bleu (of "High School Musical" fame) plays Cale Bryant, a 16-year-old motocross racer who spends his time working two part-time jobs to help take care of his mom (Penelope Anne Miller) and feisty little sister. Cale is vying for a spot on a motocross tour but loses to his best friend just as he loses his girlfriend Crystal (Tegan Moss) to his biggest rival. A new girlfriend (Sandra Echeverria) and a refurbished motorcycle later, and our pretty boy protagonist is ready to take on all the obstacles life can throw at him. "Free Style's" made-for-television production values make it a big screen movie to avoid. The film's wrongheaded approach to the real issues in American life that it pretends to confront, comes out in an exchange between Bleu's character and his little sister when she asks him if their family is black or white. "We're whack" he tells her.
Based on Cornelia Funke's 2003 fantasy kid's novel, director Ian Softley ("The Wings of the Dove") makes a half-hearted adaptation that's further diminished by Brendon Fraser's signature boy scout performance as Mo Flochart. Mo is a "silvertongue"--that's somebody able to physically conjure up characters and elements of reality from any book that they read out loud. While on vacation in Italy with his 12-year-old daughter Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett) bookbinder Mo finds what he's been searching for--an adventure novel entitled "Inkheart" with which he plans to bring back his wife Resa (Sienna Guillory), who was lost to the manuscript some years ago in exchange for a one of its fictional characters. Fire-juggler Dustfinger (Paul Bettany) pursues Mo to obtain the book so that he can return to his literary life within its pages. Meggie realizes that she too is a silvertongue right about the time that "Inkheart's" diabolical literary-figure-made-flesh Capricorn (Andy Serkis), makes his move with his minions to take over the world. Winged monkeys and a minotaur that you don't get a good look at make up some of the mediocre special effects in an unsatisfying kid's movie. (New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. Pictures) Rated PG. 105 mins. (C-) (Two Stars)
Live action G-rated movies are a rare enough species that when one comes along, parents are likely to take their budding offspring to the cinema just for the novelty of the occasion. The unexpected rewards of director Garry Marshall's ("Beaches") latest spin on the well-worn Pygmalion fairy tale are numerous. Consummated with talented newcomer Anne Hathaway as 15-year-old-nerd-turned princess Mia Thermopolis, and that grand dame of cinema Julie Andrews, "The Princess Diaries" makes the best use of San Francisco locations since "Vertigo." It's a near perfect teen romantic comedy that hits its marks with panache and grace. Garry Marshall redeems his recent film transgression of "Runaway Bride" to invigorate a girlish script by Gina Wendkos (based on the novel by Meg Cabot) into a sly and attractive film that resonates with a Billy Wilder level of attention to detail. Rated G. 114 mins. (B+) (Four Stars)
Director Robert Rodriquez continues in the vein of his “Spy Kids” films with another visually frenetic kiddie crowd-pleaser that will leave adult chaperons exiting the cinema nursing headaches. Young Max (Cayden Boyd) is a lonely 10-year-old boy who seeks solace from the outside world via his fertile imagination. Max’s dream life takes him to Planet Drool where he joins up with Shark Boy (Taylor Lautner) and Lava Girl (Taylor Dooley) to do battle with the evil Mr. Electric (George Lopez) and his sidekick Minus (Jacob Davich) amid their candy colored surroundings filled with gadgets and wacky devices. Rated PG. 93 mins. (C) (Two Stars)
Disney’s entertaining coming-of-age super hero action comedy achieves a miraculous level of kitchy zip thanks to its creative casting of Kurt Russell, Lynda Carter, and Bruce Campbell. Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) is a 14-year-old son of super hero parents (Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston) who reluctantly goes to Sky High School to follow in his parent’s hero footsteps. But Will is categorized as a non-heroic “Sidekick” at school before discovering his strength. Canny jokes, quick pacing and a humorous use of special effects make this a fun popcorn movie. Rated PG. 100 Mins. (B) (Three Stars)
Adam
Sandler's marginal non sequitur humor spices up a harmless
kid's movie (with an adult romance story) touched by magical influences.
Skeeter Bronson (Sandler) was born into his father's hotel business, Skeeter believes a long forgotten promise will elevate him from all-around maintenance guy to
General Manager for the high-rise Nottingham Hotel in Los Angeles. Skeeter's sister Wendy (Courtney
Cox) entrusts Skeeter with weeklong babysitting duties for two children Bobbi
and Patrick that he shares with day-sitter Jill (Keri Russell). At night
Skeeter and the kids invent wild stories of fantasy that partially come true in
Skeeter's daily life. The trick is that only ideas generated by the kids will actually
take place. Adam Sandler has toned down his normally racy humor effectively,
but the lightweight story is a one-note sidestep.
Here’s a sweetly mannered sports movie with heart, that's ideal for introducing baseball traditions and vocabulary to kids. The setting is 1957 in Monterrey, Mexico where former Cincinnati Reds ballboy Cesar (Clifton Collins Jr.) expresses his love for baseball by coaching a local group of ragtag baseball players to play in the Little League World Series. The movie is based on a true story of the only "perfect game" in the league’s championship history. It’s a small movie that doesn’t try to do too much, and even though the baseball sequences leave something to be desired, the movie works well enough for young viewers.
"Mansfield Park" director Patricia Rozema delivers a prudently nostalgic depression-era dramedy about 11-year-old Kit Kittredge (well played by the irrepressible Abigail Breslin) of the American Girl book series. Kit wants to write editorial essays about the Great Depression from a "kid’s-eye-view" for her local Cincinnati newspaper. The dire 1934 economic crisis comes home to roost when her father (played by Chris O’Donnell) loses his car dealership and leaves his family to look for work in Chicago. Kit befriends a couple of child hobos named Will and Countee who take her on a tour of their homeless existence, while Kit’s mom (well played by Julia Ormond) opens the family’s house to boarders in order to keep up their mortgage payments. A rash of burglaries points to Kit’s friend Will as the prime suspect, and she sets out to solve the crimes with the help of her two best friends. A talented cast that includes Joan Cusack and Stanley Tucci, elevate the movie above its after-school-special limitations.
The Wachowski Brothers achieve a divine vision of psychedelic visual ecstasy--you won’t believe the sheer amount of color on the screen at any given time—while digging deep into a campy comic/dramatic tone that works for audiences of all ages. Emile Hirsch leads a flawless cast as the title character who carries the death of his car-racing brother Rex Racer as a constant inspiration to win races for his family’s racing business. Anti-corporate themes abound as the sport’s predatory company Royalton Industries tries to bring Speed and his family to the dark side of greed. Far-out racing sequences, ninja attacks, and a budding romance between Speed and his girlfriend Trixie (perfectly played by Christina Ricci) attend the trippy visual fun. Like a revved-up turbo mix of Warren Beatty’s "Dick Tracy" with 1982’s "Tron," "Speed Racer" is a blast from start to finish.
Based on Wendy Orr’s youthful feminized spin on Robinson Crusoe, "Nim’s Island" is a low-key adventure comedy for preteens that will touch the hearts of their gooey-eyed parents. Abigail Breslin plays Nim, the daughter of Jack Rusoe (played by Gerard Butler), a scientist slash writer who’s made an idyllic life for them on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. When she isn’t frolicking with her wild animal friends, Nim reads Alex Rover adventure novels written by Alexandra Rover (played by Jodie Foster), an agoraphobic San Francisco author. Nim gets a double dose of trouble when her dad’s two-day boating expedition leaves him stranded at sea, just as a cruise ship company broaches the small island with the intention of turning it into a regular destination. Nim’s SOS e-mail to Alexandra shakes the writer out of her comfort zone to risk going to the island to rescue Nim. Even if Foster’s attendant pratfalls fail to register many laughs, the movie’s overall feel-good tone chimes like a bell.
Dustin Hoffman’s attempt at being delightful goes flat likes a tire without an inner tube in this notably bland children’s movie. Hoffman plays Mr. Magorium, the kooky 243 year-old toy store owner whose life is coming to an end because he has finally worn out the last pair of Italian shoes of which he bought a lifetime supply. Natalie Portman plays Magorium’s sole employee, a musically blocked concert pianist who will inherit the store that newcomer accountant Jason Bateman has taken over the daunting task of settling its books. Visually colorful but dramatically empty, "Mr. Magorium’s Emporium" is too listless for words.
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is little more than an overtly violent elongation of a Saturday morning cartoon. In the crime-riddled streets of Manhattan, turtle siblings Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael reunite after years of pursuing their individual interests. Resident sensei rat Splinter oversees the reunion that re-teams the slacker ninja turtles with former allies April O'Neil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Casey Jones (Chris Evans) to take on a vicious crime gang called the "Foot Clan." Evil mastermind Maximillian J. Winters (Patrick Stewart) releases an army of ancient giant monsters that the Foot Clan protects. A throughline of organized violence permeates "TMNT" as a baby step toward preparing youngsters to become soldiers in America's never-ending war on humanity. Not Yet Rated. 93 mins. (C-) (Two Stars)
Here’s a sweetly mannered sports movie with heart, that's ideal for introducing baseball traditions and vocabulary to kids. The setting is 1957 in Monterrey, Mexico where former Cincinnati Reds ballboy Cesar (Clifton Collins Jr.) expresses his love for baseball by coaching a local group of ragtag baseball players to play in the Little League World Series. The movie is based on a true story of the only "perfect game" in the league’s championship history. It’s a small movie that doesn’t try to do too much, and even though the baseball sequences leave something to be desired, the movie works well enough for young viewers.
"Mansfield Park" director Patricia Rozema delivers a prudently nostalgic depression-era dramedy about 11-year-old Kit Kittredge (well played by the irrepressible Abigail Breslin) of the American Girl book series. Kit wants to write editorial essays about the Great Depression from a "kid’s-eye-view" for her local Cincinnati newspaper. The dire 1934 economic crisis comes home to roost when her father (played by Chris O’Donnell) loses his car dealership and leaves his family to look for work in Chicago. Kit befriends a couple of child hobos named Will and Countee who take her on a tour of their homeless existence, while Kit’s mom (well played by Julia Ormond) opens the family’s house to boarders in order to keep up their mortgage payments. A rash of burglaries points to Kit’s friend Will as the prime suspect, and she sets out to solve the crimes with the help of her two best friends. A talented cast that includes Joan Cusack and Stanley Tucci, elevate the movie above its after-school-special limitations. 
The Wachowski Brothers achieve a divine vision of psychedelic visual ecstasy--you won’t believe the sheer amount of color on the screen at any given time—while digging deep into a campy comic/dramatic tone that works for audiences of all ages. Emile Hirsch leads a flawless cast as the title character who carries the death of his car-racing brother Rex Racer as a constant inspiration to win races for his family’s racing business. Anti-corporate themes abound as the sport’s predatory company Royalton Industries tries to bring Speed and his family to the dark side of greed. Far-out racing sequences, ninja attacks, and a budding romance between Speed and his girlfriend Trixie (perfectly played by Christina Ricci) attend the trippy visual fun. Like a revved-up turbo mix of Warren Beatty’s "Dick Tracy" with 1982’s "Tron," "Speed Racer" is a blast from start to finish. 
Dustin Hoffman’s attempt at being delightful goes flat likes a tire without an inner tube in this notably bland children’s movie. Hoffman plays Mr. Magorium, the kooky 243 year-old toy store owner whose life is coming to an end because he has finally worn out the last pair of Italian shoes of which he bought a lifetime supply. Natalie Portman plays Magorium’s sole employee, a musically blocked concert pianist who will inherit the store that newcomer accountant Jason Bateman has taken over the daunting task of settling its books. Visually colorful but dramatically empty, "Mr. Magorium’s Emporium" is too listless for words. 