Directed by: Bryan Singer Starring: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, James Marsden, Kevin Spacey Rated: PG-13 for some intense action violence. Parental Notes: For the most part, this is a very comic-book film, with cartoonish violence that should be fine for most kids. However, there is a sequence near the end in which Luthor gets the best of Superman and nearly kills him, which is quite unpleasant and which may be too intense for some youngsters.
Directed by: Alejandro Agresti Starring: Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves, Christopher Plummer Rated: PG for some language and a disturbing image. Parental Notes: This is a fairly innocuous film for preteens and older kids. Young children might be a bit spooked by a sequence early in the film when a man is hit by a bus.
Directed by: Justin Lin Starring: Lucas Black, Sung Kang, Brian Tee, Nathalie Kelley Rated: PG-13 for reckless and illegal behavior involving teens, violence, language and sexual content. Parental Notes: This is a fairly innocuous film aside from the over-the-top racing. Provided you trust your preteen or teen not to be overly influenced to take up street racing, this should be a fine film for them.
Directed by: Pierre Morel Starring: David Belle, Cyril Rafaelli, Larbi Naceri, Dani Verissimo Rated: R for strong violence, some drug content and language. Parental Notes: This is an action movie with minimal gore, but there is plenty of fighting, gunplay, and some blood. It’s a soft R but more intense than a PG-13.
Directed by: Brett Ratner Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellan, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, James Marsden Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence, some sexual content and language. Parental Notes: This film is in the same vein as the other two; there’s a lot of thrilling comic-book violence, minor sexual content and language, and a good bit of melodrama. There’s very little gore or graphic content.
Aaah, summer. The time of big action movies and brainless comedy. As usual, summer is starting early at the multiplexes this year; it’s only may and we’ve already had “Mission: Impossible III” and “Poseidon.”. Here’s a look at the movies your humble reviewer is particularly interested in amid the many being released.
Directed by: Paul Weitz Starring: Hugh Grant, Mandy Moore, Sam Golzari, Dennis Quaid Willem Dafoe. Rated: PG-13 for brief strong language and some sexual references. Parental Notes: This is a fairly safe movie for preteens and teens. The sexual references are fairly tame and the strong language is sparingly used.
Directed by: Liz Friedlander Starring: Antonio Banderas, Rob Brown, Alfre Woodard, Yaya DaCosta Rated: PG-13 for thematic material, language and some violence. Parental notes: This is an accurately rated film. It’s not aimed at the Kindergarten-and-younger set, and they probably wouldn’t enjoy it. Teens and preteens are likely to have a good time, though, especially if they’re interested in dancing.
Directed by: James Gunn Starring: Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker, Elizabeth Banks Rated: R for strong horror violence and gore, and language. Parental Notes: This is definitely an R-rated horror movie; while it does have quite a bit of humor, it also has people exploding, heads being destroyed, and other unpleasantness. This is not a kid flick.
Directed by: Spike Lee Starring: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Willem Dafoe Rated: R for language and some violent images. Parental Notes: This is not a movie for kids. There is plenty of violence and language, not to mention the frightening aspects of the hostage storyline. Moreover, it’s not a movie aimed at youngsters. Teens may enjoy it, particularly if they have a fondness for heist films or are politically savvy.