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"Alvin and the Chipmunks" (PG, 1 hr., 31 min.)
A theater full of giggly little ones -- many under 6 -- took delight at a recent preview of "Alvin and the Chipmunks," an update of the nearly 50-year-old recording and cartoon franchise. Mixing live-action with computer animation, the movie is genial and occasionally quite funny in its slapstick bits, making good use of the technology. The cuddly critters have warm-looking fur and big sparkly eyes to go with their famously speeded-up voices. That classic "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" is featured, and they do a version of "Funkytown" and some hip-hop-inspired tunes and dance moves. The technology also allows them to trash their human pal Dave Seville's (Jason Lee) house really well. The film's spoof of the music business after the "boys" become exploited pop stars may be lost on the littlest kids, but most of the humor is aimed at them, so they'll never feel left behind. There are Chipmunk poop jokes, of course, and drawings insulting one another's "smelly" behinds. Mild sexual innuendo involves a kiss between Dave and his not-quite-ex girlfriend (Cameron Richardson) and references to a masseuse. Coffee sets the Chipmunks spinning, then crashing with exhaustion on tour, but they survive just fine.
Dave is a failed songwriter. Even his old pal Ian (David Cross), a sleazy record executive, rejects his gloomy ballads. Walking out of Ian's office, Dave grabs a basketful of muffins for consolation. In the lobby, mischievous Alvin (voice of Justin Long), studious Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and babyish Theodore (Jesse McCartney), who have been hiding in the new Christmas tree, leap into the muffins unbeknownst to Dave. When he finds the talking Chipmunks scurrying around his house, Dave freaks and tosses them out. Then they harmonize on his windowsill. Eureka! He's found his muses, but will they survive showbiz? Of course, they will.
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"I Am Legend" (PG-13, 1 hr., 54 min.)
As military medical researcher Robert Neville, Will Smith tools around a decimated, overgrown Manhattan devoid of fellow humans in this finely wrought, vividly atmospheric sci-fi thriller based on the 1954 novel by Richard Matheson. Set in the near future, the existential landscape has come about after a "miracle" cancer cure mutated into an incurable virus that, Neville believes, wiped out humanity. Neville has a natural immunity, but other humans have morphed into rabid, hairless zombies who swarm and feed at night. By day, Neville and his beloved German shepherd Sam hunt deer that stampede through town, gather supplies and try to stay sane. He broadcasts radio messages, but no other uninfected survivors reply. He continues to study the virus in his fortress-like home, testing antidotes on vicious infected rats, and on an infected human he captures. Then Neville's life changes -- he has guests.
"I Am Legend" is more offbeat than a typical Hollywood film, echoing last year's excellent "Children of Men" (R). The presence of star Will Smith (who's terrific) will draw many teens, but the film will be too intense for some middle-schoolers and speak more eloquently to high-schoolers, anyway. There are upsetting flashbacks of the evacuation of Manhattan, the rabid faces of the newly infected slamming against car windows, and the implied deaths of Neville's wife and child. The goriest scenes involve Neville fighting off infected hordes with explosions, guns and hand-to-hand combat. A lion (escaped from the zoo, no doubt) kills a deer, and there are other upsetting animal deaths. There is some profanity.
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BEYOND THE RATINGS GAME
-- OK FOR KIDS 6 AND OLDER:
"Alvin and the Chipmunks" (PG) -- This genial, occasionally quite funny update of the almost 50-year-old "Alvin and the Chipmunks" franchise uses live-action and computer animation to tell a slapstick-rich tale that aims most of its wit, for once, at little kids and not grown-ups. Oft-rejected songwriter Dave Seville (Jason Lee) grabs a basket of muffins for consolation as he leaves a record company. When he walks through the lobby, three talking chipmunks -- mischievous Alvin (voice of Justin Long), studious Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and babyish Theodore (Jesse McCartney) hiding in a new Christmas tree leap into the basket unbeknownst to Dave. When Dave finds the talking rodents in his house, he freaks. Then he hears them sing. He writes them a hit and his sleazy record exec pal (David Cross) signs, tours and exploits them, but they are indomitable. Little kids may not catch the film's jabs at the music biz, but it won't matter. There are Chipmunk poop jokes, drawings insulting one another's "smelly" behinds and, among humans, mild sexual innuendo. Coffee sets the Chipmunks spinning, then crashing. Fine for under-6s.
-- OK FOR KIDS 8 AND OLDER:
"Enchanted" (PG) -- Fantasy and reality bump heads in this clever romantic comedy, which droops a bit in its second half, but still has charm, wit and whimsy enough to delight kids 8 and older. Adults will smile at its inspired musical send-ups of old Disney animated features. A lass in an animated fairy tale is off to marry her prince when his sorceress stepmom shoves her down a hole. Giselle (Amy Adams) bursts through a manhole in Times Square as a flesh-and-blood person in a live-action world. A divorced lawyer (Patrick Dempsey) and his little daughter (Rachel Covey) rescue her. The prince (James Marsden) and sorceress (Susan Sarandon) soon arrive. The lawyer's fiancee (Idina Menzel) speaks of not spending the night in his apartment as a good example for his child. Adults drink. Giselle's chipmunk pal commits toilet humor. Rats and roaches swarm in a funny-creepy scene. There is mild sexual innuendo.
"Fred Claus" (PG) -- Vince Vaughn plays Santa's ne'er-do-well older sibling Fred-from-Chicago as a happy blend of smart aleck and good-guy in this amusing trifle as the script bounces between cleverness and cliche. Fred gets arrested and his brother Nick, aka the real Santa (Paul Giamatti), sends bail and his sleigh, flying Fred to the North Pole for the Christmas rush. When an efficiency expert (Kevin Spacey) threatens to close Santa's workshop, Fred must back up his bro. There is occasional semi-crude language and mildly suggestive humor, likely to go over heads younger than 10. Tall Fred and short elf Willie (John Michael Higgins) stand at urinals in a visual gag. There are slapstick fights with no injuries. A boy (Bobb'e J. Thompson) Fred befriended in Chicago lands in an orphanage.
-- OK FOR KIDS 10 AND OLDER:
"August Rush" (PG) -- This modern fairy tale about a genius orphan (Freddie Highmore) who reconnects with his long lost parents (Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers) through the mystical power of music is preposterous, pretentious and music video-esque. Yet it could sweep kids 10 and older along. The 11-year-old is obsessed with sound and rhythm -- an unschooled prodigy. He runs away from a group home to Manhattan, where a Fagin-like hustler called Wizard (Robin Williams) turns him into a street guitarist, naming him August Rush. But Wizard can't hold the boy for long. He threatens August with a blade and that, with other lost-in-the-city moments, could scare under-10s. Adults drink, make rare drug references and use mild profanity.
-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:
"I Am Legend" (NEW) -- Will Smith is terrific in this well wrought existential sci-fi thriller (based on Richard Matheson's novel) as Robert Neville, a military medical researcher who appears to be the lone uninfected survivor of a plague that has emptied Manhattan (and perhaps the world) of humanity. Neville is immuned to the virus, which mutated from a "miracle" cancer cure. Victims died or became rabid zombies who hide from daylight and maraud at night. Neville keeps trying to create an antidote and broadcasts radio messages in search of survivors. He and his beloved dog troll through a (handsomely) decimated Manhattan, gathering supplies and hunting deer by day, then holing up at night for safety. Then his lonely life takes a turn. There are upsetting flashbacks of the evacuation of Manhattan, the rabid faces of the infected slamming against car windows, and the implied deaths of Neville's wife and child. The goriest scenes show Neville fighting off rabid zombies with explosions, guns and hand-to-hand combat. A lion kills a deer and there are other bloody animal deaths. Too intense for some middle-schoolers, the movie will speak more eloquently to high-schoolers.
"The Kite Runner" (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) -- This memorable film (based on Khaled Hosseini's novel) tells a tale of friendship and betrayal with stark beauty and deep feeling. In 1970s Afghanistan a wealthy boy, Amir (Zekiria Ebrahimi), and his boy-servant, Hassan (the extraordinary Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada), are best friends. While tracking a lost kite in an alley, Hassan is sexually assaulted by a bully. The scene is not graphic, but director Marc Forster makes clear what has happened. Amir sees, but fails to help and shuns Hassan afterwards. Amir and his father escape the Russian invasion and go to America. The adult Amir (Khalid Abdalla) is haunted by his boyhood act of cowardice and cruelty. He returns to his homeland under the Taliban to try to make amends. Scary moments show him facing armed Taliban. There are strong hints of sexual exploitation of orphaned boys there. A Russian soldier threatens to rape a woman. Young Amir talks of his mother dying in childbirth. We see the head of a butchered goat and kids throw stones at a dog. Characters smoke and drink. The film is in English, Dari, Urdu, Pashtu and Russian with frequent subtitles. Great for high-schoolers ready to expand their movie range.
"Juno" (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) -- A supersmart 16-year-old named Juno (fab Ellen Page), with major attitude but a heart of gold, gets pregnant and decides to let an upscale couple (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) adopt her child, then learns a bit about grown-ups. This comedy from way off-center is a blast of fresh air visually, verbally and musically, as scripted by Diablo Cody and directed by Jason Reitman. J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney as Juno's blue-collar folks and Michael Cera as her shy boyfriend are all a hoot. There is one brief, mostly implied sexual situation, followed by a lot of teen discussion of sex and semigraphic sexual slang, toilet humor (pregnancy tests) and some profanity. The movie really isn't for middle-schoolers or even immature high-schoolers. Some parents may want to screen it first.
"The Golden Compass" -- A brave 12-year-old girl named Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) battles authoritarian forces who abduct children and rob them of their souls in "The Golden Compass," based on the first novel in Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" fantasy trilogy. The movie is gorgeous, mysterious, exciting and swift, though not always easy to follow. Teens and many 10- to 12-years-old will probably love it, though devotees of the books may balk at the abrupt ending and other changes. An orphan, Lyra lives in a college in what looks like 1930s England -- though in her world, humans are accompanied by animal spirits or "daemons" that embody people's souls. Lyra's is called Pantalaimon (voice of Freddie Highmore). She learns that her scientist uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), has discovered a portal into other universes, but the ruling Magisterium disapproves of his research. When the scheming power player Mrs. Coulter (an icy Nicole Kidman) takes Lyra under her wing, the Master of the college gives Lyra a golden compass as protection, for it always points to the truth. Lyra uses it on her epic journey to find a friend who's been abducted. Armored bears, humans and witches fight battles with swords, arrows and guns. The fallen disintegrate into sparks. A child is separated from his daemon in a way that seems very painful. Lyra's ally, the armored bear Iorek Byrnison (voice of Ian McKellen), is angry and scary at first.
"This Christmas" A character-rich comedy-drama full of good actors, good cheer, and lots of soap-opera cliches, this movie could draw lots of teens. Members of a large African-American family gather in the L.A. home of their mother (Loretta Devine) and her boyfriend (Delroy Lindo) for Christmas. The sparks soon fly among the many siblings (key characters played by Idris Elba, Regina King, Sharon Leal, Columbus Short and singer Chris Brown, with Mekhi Phifer as a love interest). The sexual innuendo includes a vibrator joke, implied overnights among wed and unwed couples, an infidelity subplot, but no nudity or explicitness. There are muted fights -- one with a gun brandished -- mild profanity, smoking and drinking. OK for most teens.
"Beowulf" -- This computer-animated take on the ancient Anglo-Saxon saga (with live actors digitally morphed into animated figures) looks like a spiffy graphic novel and at times achieves a mythic tone, yet it often seems comically grandiose and unpoetic. After the decaying, skeletal monster Grendel (Crispin Glover) attacks King Hrothgar's (Anthony Hopkins) court, Norse hero Beowulf (Ray Winstone) arrives to kill the creature. The violence is graphic, with men impaled or torn in half. Other than violence, key R-ish elements are drunkenness and sexuality -- talk of lust, fornication, ravishing of virgins. Weapons become blatant phallic symbols, barely hiding Beowulf's privates, as he fights Grendel naked. We see other bare behinds and Grendel's mother (Angelina Jolie), a high-heeled, tentacled siren, is naked-ish, with details blurred. Too violent and sexualized for some middle-schoolers.
-- AN R:
"Atonement" (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) -- A lavishly told tale of love, passion, war and tragic misunderstanding, "Atonement" is visually stunning and acted with great subtlety. Director Joe Wright's reverent adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel, set mostly in England before, during and after World War II, is so pretty, it occasionally mutes its own emotional impact, but it's still quite a film. Mature high-schoolers 16 and up may be moved by the romance of it. Keira Knightley and James McAvoy play lovers Cecilia and Robbie -- she an upper-class girl and he the educated son of her family's housekeeper. Cecilia's 13-year-old sister (Saoirse Ronan), ignorant about sex, sees them making love and makes accusations that devastate all their lives. The film depicts graphic war wounds and includes an explicit sexual situation, partial nudity, crude, graphic sexual slang, drinking and smoking.
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