Family Filmgoer

Watching With Kids in Mind

Kung Fu Panda (PG, 90 minutes)

A chubby panda in ancient China dreams of being a kung fu master in this riotous, artfully animated delight. "Kung Fu Panda" doesn't get cheap laughs with pop-culture references or double-entendres. It unfolds as a classic hero's journey, with deliciously verbal and visual humor. Directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson manage to simultaneously spoof and pay homage to Asian martial arts films and ancient Chinese legend.

Po the panda (voice of Jack Black) lives with his dad, a goose named Mr. Ping (James Hong), behind the family noodle shop. Mr. Ping longs for the day Po will realize that they are "noodle folk" and that he is meant to sell noodles like his dad. But Po dreams of kicking villainous behinds. One day, kung fu master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) holds a contest at the nearby palace among his star students, the Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross). The winner must fulfill a prophecy and defeat the only enemy the valley faces: the snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane). But Po, in his bumbling efforts to get over the palace walls to see his idols compete, crash-lands in front of Shifu and the ancient, wise turtle Oogway (Randall Duk Kim). Oogway takes this as a sign that Po is fated to fulfill the prophecy, and master Shifu grudgingly starts to train the pudgy panda, thinking it's a hopeless mistake. The training sequences are priceless, and the message about being "your own hero" and living in the present should resonate with kids, as they watch Po overcome self-doubt and derision. Although the film is great fare for most kids 6 and older, it does contain pretty fierce fights. The kung fu dust-ups are fanciful rather than hyper-realistic, but on the big screen, with crossbows and sticks, they might feel intense to some kids. And the villain (the bullying Tai Lung) might briefly scare the littlest ones with just a flash of his yellow eyes.

Also Playing

8 and Older

"Speed Racer" (PG). This racing fantasy will enthrall lots of kids 8 and older, though its eye-popping fusion of live-action and computer-animation adds up to less than the sum of its parts. "Speed Racer" is long, weak on story and bloated by racing sequences that grow repetitive. The fights are rough for a PG. There is a little crude language, mild sexual innuendo 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 this second 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, as the new film assumes much prior knowledge. "Prince Caspian" is a solid enough fantasy/epic, but it's slower, darker and less funny than the first film, with a look and tone that are more sword-and-sorcery than storybook. The four Pevensie kids, Lucy (Georgie Henley), Peter (William Moseley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Susan (Anna Popplewell), are back in World War II-era London. Thirteen-hundred years have passed in Narnia time. The land is ruled by the evil Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), who plots against his nephew, Prince Caspian (bland Ben Barnes), the rightful heir to the throne. The Pevensies are whisked back when Caspian sounds a magic horn. Battle scenes push the PG limit, implying that arrows and blades pierce flesh.

PG-13s

"You Don't Mess With the Zohan." Adam Sandler takes on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute in miniature here, but his sophomoric farce trivializes the conflict. Sandler plays Israeli Army commando Zohan. He can kill you with his thumb and forefinger, but his real love is styling hair and bedding as many women as possible. Zohan fakes his own death after a shootout with a terrorist (John Turturro). He sneaks into New York, changes his name and lands a job at a Palestinian-owned salon run by the lovely Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui). He's stunned to see Israelis and Palestinians living peacefully in the same neighborhood. He becomes the stylist/lover of choice for all ladies older than 60. The movie's engine runs on crude sexual innuendo and slang, strongly implied sexual situations and graphic crotch gags. There are ethnic slurs, gay jokes and mild profanity. Not for middle schoolers.

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Nearly 20 years after "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (PG-13, 1989), this belated fourth chapter offers flashes of high amusement. Yet it feels a little forced, a little cobbled-together and at times a little dull. The film opens with archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones held captive by KGB agents in the Nevada desert, led by a rapier-wielding woman (Cate Blanchett). Jones escapes but loses his teaching job when the red-baiting FBI doubts his story. A young Marlon Brando-wannabe named Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) brings news that Jones's colleague (John Hurt) has been kidnapped in the Peruvian jungle after finding an ancient crystal skull. Aside from near-bloodless gunplay and fights, there are wild stunts (a few of which fall a little flat) and chases. Under-10s might cower at man-eating ants, scorpions, mummified skeletons, zombie-like creatures and a shattering nuclear test. Okay for most teens and preteens, but adults might need to explain the 1950s Cold War mentality.

"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 jihadist villains seem a cheesy choice. Robert Downey Jr. exudes both hip and cool as weapons magnate Tony Stark, who is injured and captured by Afghan insurgents. A fellow captive (Shaun Toub) inserts a glowing electromagnetic device in Stark's chest to keep shrapnel out of his heart. The two men secretly build a weaponized, robotic suit of armor, and Stark escapes in it. Back in Malibu, he announces he will no longer sell weapons and builds a supersonic battle suit so he can protect the innocent. The violence is thunderous but nearly bloodless. There is profanity, a non-graphic sexual situation and drinking. Okay for teens who can handle war scenes.

Rs

"Sex and the City." Some things are better left on the small screen. At two-and-a-quarter hours and blown up far larger-than-life, this feature film sequel to HBO's hit half-hour series feels like a drawn-out and vacuous soap opera, despite the fab clothes and racy repartee. One hopes that teens older than 17 will at least acknowledge the crass consumption that fuels the four fashionista friends' lives as much as sex does. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), the narrator and chronicler of all their adventures, and her on-again-off-again love, Mr. Big (Chris Noth), might wed wealthily. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is a harried wife and mother whose husband, Steve (David Eigenberg), confesses an infidelity. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is a wife to Harry (Evan Handler) and a mom, but she fears her happiness can't last. Samantha (Kim Cattrall), the most free-spirited (i.e., promiscuous) pal, lives with her actor-lover (Jason Lewis) in Los Angeles and is bored. The film includes explicit sexual situations, sexual language, nudity, crude humor, profanity and drinking. Not for teens younger than 17.

"The Strangers." Three masked home invaders toy with a petrified couple in an isolated house then turn violent in this worst-nightmare scarefest. "The Strangers" leaves a filmgoer with an appropriately clammy feeling, but it offers little in the way of actual entertainment. The film contains a bloody shooting, stabbings, a steamy but nongraphic sex scene, occasional profanity and smoking. Okay for teens 16 and older.