The Family Filmgoer

Watching With Kids in Mind

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (PG-13, 126 minutes)

Archaeology professor-adventurer Indiana Jones is always a welcome screen hero, even as a wry 60-something. Yet behind all the frenetic action, this fourth chapter, coming nearly 20 years after "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (PG-13, 1989), feels a little forced, a little dull and a little cobbled-together, even for the Saturday-morning serial style that director Steven Spielberg is aiming for. Teens and preteens may feel a bit cheated.

It is 1957 in the Nevada desert. Older, grayer, but still game, Professor Jones begins his latest adventure captured and roughed up by a gaggle of KGB agents posing as American soldiers. They're led by a rapier-wielding woman (Cate Blanchett). Jones escapes the Russians, but not before his patriotism is questioned by the FBI, and he's forced to take a leave of absence from teaching. He's accosted by Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf), who brings news that Jones's colleague, Professor Oxley (John Hurt), is being held hostage over the discovery of an ancient crystal skull. So Jones and Mutt head to the jungles of Peru. Later, while fighting off the KGB and native tribesmen, they join up with Jones's one-time love, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen). The reason for that would give away too much plot, but most Jonesophiles will guess.

Although the level of mayhem in "Crystal Skull" remains moderate for a PG-13, some preteens might have trouble getting the film's Cold War backdrop without parental explanation. Along with gunplay and fisticuffs (nearly bloodless), there are outrageous motorized chases, including a fine one between a motorbike and a car, with Jones clambering impossibly between the two, and a swordfight on the roofs of two other speeding vehicles. Younger kids may cower at ant swarms engulfing humans, stinging scorpions, mummified skeletons, zombielike creatures, a big snake and a nuclear test blast that one character improbably survives with no side effects. There is a bit of mild profanity, drinking and references to an unwed pregnancy.

Also Playing

8 and Older

"Speed Racer." (PG) Many kids 8 and older will be riveted by this story of a close-knit racing family, even though the complex fusion of live action and computer animation amounts to less than the sum of its neon-colored parts. "Speed Racer" is too long, weak on story and weighed down by high-velocity racing sequences that thrill once, then grow tedious. A first-rate cast does lend a sense of meaning to the convoluted tale, reimagined by the Wachowski siblings from a 1967 Japanese comic book and animated TV series. The fights are rough for a PG. A man screams when he's forced to put his finger in a tank of piranhas, though we see nothing. There is a little crude language, mild sexual innuendo, beer drinking and a mention of liquor.

10 and Older

"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." (PG) Plenty of kids 10 and older will dive happily into the new installment, but a familiarity with the first film ("The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," PG, 2005) or with the books by C.S. Lewis would help; this movie assumes much prior knowledge. Although still a solid epic fantasy, "Prince Caspian" is slower, darker and less humorous than the original movie, with less of a storybook look. The four Pevensie siblings, Lucy (Georgie Henley), Peter (William Moseley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Susan (Anna Popplewell), are back in World War II-era London but miss their Narnia adventure. Thirteen-hundred years have passed in Narnia time. The magical land is occupied by warlike humans under the evil Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), who plots against his nephew, Prince Caspian (bland Ben Barnes), the rightful heir to the throne. Fleeing for his life, Caspian blows a horn, and the Pevensie kids, who left Narnia as royalty, are whisked back. Fight scenes push the PG boundary, implying that arrows and blades pierce flesh. Younger kids might cringe at a charging bear and a couple of demons. The Christian parable aspect of C.S. Lewis's story remains understated so non-Christians can enjoy the adventure.

PG-13s

"What Happens in Vegas." Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher smirk through this crass, irredeemable farce about polar opposites who cross paths in Las Vegas, get drunk, win a $3 million jackpot and wake up married. Back in New York, they try for an immediate divorce, but there's the question of who gets the money. A cranky judge (Dennis Miller) requires them to live together for six months to try to make the marriage work. Can true love be far behind? The film includes midrange profanity, toilet and other crude humor, much sexual innuendo, a drug reference and drinking. Iffy for middle schoolers.

"Made of Honor." The repartee crackles only now and then in this paint-by-numbers romantic comedy, and the crude humor inserted to gin up the laughs doesn't add much. A rich, promiscuous cad named Tom (Patrick Dempsey) realizes he's in love with his longtime platonic best friend, Hannah (Michelle Monaghan), after she leaves New York on business and returns engaged to a Scotsman (Kevin McKidd). The rating reflects jokes about sex toys, verbal sexual innuendo, profanity and drinking. Not really for middle schoolers.

"Iron Man." Spun off its Marvel Comics roots, this superhero flick is smartly written, crisply acted and elegantly designed, with gasp-inducing action and flashes of intellectual and moral heft. It is, however, too long, and the jihadist villains seem a cheesy choice. Robert Downey Jr. exudes hip and cool as weapons magnate Tony Stark, who is injured and held captive by Afghan insurgents. A fellow captive (Shaun Toub) saves him by inserting a glowing electromagnetic device in his chest to keep shrapnel out of his heart. The two men secretly build a weaponized, robotic suit of armor, and Tony escapes in it. Back in Malibu, he announces he will no longer sell weapons that terrorists can get a hold of, much to his partner's (Jeff Bridges) dismay. The violence is thunderous but nearly bloodless and also includes implied torture, images of surgery and the portrayal of Afghan families threatened at gunpoint. There is profanity, mild sexual innuendo and drinking. Okay for teens who can take war scenes.

"Baby Mama." This uneven comedy -- refreshingly off-center, slightly bawdy and far from perfection -- will still amuse many high schoolers. Tina Fey plays Kate, an executive who is 37, single and determined to have a baby. Told she can't, she purchases frozen sperm and hires an undereducated surrogate mother, Angie (Amy Poehler). "Baby Mama" excels at spoofing class snobbery and corny ideas about parenthood, but it droops when contrived sentiments and cliches take over. There is midrange profanity, R-ish sexual slang, toilet humor and drinking. A tad raunchy for middle schoolers.