Lego Ninjago tickles fans

Movie Title:    The LEGO NINJAGO Movie

Grade:   B+

Rating: PG, 90 minutes

In a Nutshell:  

While this third installment in the Lego movie universe isn’t getting the rave reviews that the first two did, I still got a kick out of it and recommend it for families.  

As a mother of 4 sons who were all obsessed with Legos while growing up, I wish these movies had come out years ago.  The jokes and gags fly fast and furiously, making for an energetically, fun time.

 

Uplifting theme: 

• • “Some powers you cannot see, and those are the most important powers of all.” – Master Wu (Jackie Chan)
  • “Even if you’re different, you can still do great things.” – Master Wu  
  • “To be a master, it takes patience, hard work, and courage.” – Master  Wu
  • Family
  • Love, forgiveness
  • Everyone has a unique talent
• “You must forget everything you know and see things in a new way.” – Master Wu
• “The strongest weapon is inside you.” – Master Wu

Things I liked:

• • Jackie Chan is currently in two great movies in theaters: this Lego movie for families and The Foreigner (DVD) for parents only, where he shows impressive dramatic depth.  He’s so amazing.  
  The beginning and end were super sweet with live action Jackie Chan.
• Plenty of humor for kids and adults.  The visual gags are hilarious.
• Cat humor.
• Voice talents include Dave Franco, Justin Theroux, Olivia Munn, Fred Armisen, and Michael Pena.
• • Keep watching during the rolling credits at the end for a funny blooper reel with Jackie Chan and to hear the funny “Dance of Doom” lyrics.
  • There’s a good dose of the Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker relationship going on for all you Star Wars fans out there.

Things I didn’t like:

• Sometimes you can't quite understand what Jackie Chan says because of his thick accent.
• Some of the jokes are repetitive and tired.
• • The storytelling is uneven, but the target audience for this movie certainly won’t care one bit.

Tips for parents: 

• Some text messages, so kids who can't read will miss the humorous notes.
• Lots of Lego fighting.
• Some potty humor, but not as much as you would think, considering the target audience’s age.
• • Strained father/son relationship.
  • Lots of fighting and Lego destruction (nothing you haven’t already seen when your kids play with Legos.)
  • Safe for all ages
  • Lots of current jokes about society

Christmas shopping season has begun! Some great Lego Ninjago gifts: 


LEGO Ninjago Movie Master Falls 70608 Building Kit (312 Piece) LEGO NINJAGO The Green NRG Dragon 70593 Fun Toy LEGO Ninjago Movie Spinjitzu Training 70606 Building Kit (109 Piece) LEGO Ninjago Temple of Airjitzu 70751

MOVIE REVIEW MOM

@trinaboice 

Nerve has more suspense than brains

Movie Title:   Nerve

  

Grade:  B

Rating:  PG-13, 96 minutes

In a Nutshell:  “Nerve is a 24 hour game like truth or dare minus the truth.”   

This suspenseful movie is made for teens who are obsessed with themselves and think everyone else is too.  It appeals to adrenaline junkies who want to be “instafamous” and offers an interesting commentary about social media.

Teenagers will probably think this movie is super cool.  Be forewarned:  Do NOT try these dares at home…or any other place.

Themes: 

• “Are you a watcher or player?” - Nerve game
• “Life is passing you by.  You need to take a few risks every once in a while.” – Sydney (Emily Meade)
• Everyone has an inner desire to be famous.
• “It’s easy to be brave in a crowd.” – Vee
• Even though we can be anonymous online, there are still very real consequences to our virtual actions.

Things I liked:

• This is surprisingly entertaining.  The action is non-stop.
• Pretty good music soundtrack, although it usually tells you how to feel in almost every scene.
• I like the size of Sydney’s cell phone.  Ha ha
• It’s definitely suspenseful.
• Emma Roberts and Dave Franco have great chemistry together.
• New York City and Staten Island vistas at every turn.
• Hey, this isn’t a remake! Finally, a summer movie that isn't a remake of something else! There is, however, another movie made years ago with Michael Douglas called “The Game”, which has a similar story but without all of the digital effects and social media aspects.
• Almost every scene has neon in it.  The movie feels young and energetic.
• Some movie critics say there isn’t really any resolution in the end, but I actually thought it worked.  It was fast, but then so was the entire movie.

Things I didn’t like:

• The idea is that the camera sees everything, yet there is no one actually there filming at every angle.  Don’t think very hard, because most of the things in this movie don’t make sense.
• This is what happens when you have kids with more time than brains.
• The loss of a loved one and the inability to move on is a clichéd background story.  The movie doesn't spend very much time on character development, but does insert a brief backstory that fuels the motivation for each character.
• NOT a spoiler alert: I don’t appreciate that they make the cops out to be the bad guys. 
• I hate it when people are afraid to report crimes being committed because then they're labeled a snitch.  Isn't the crime a LOT worse than being a "tattle-tale"?  One of the rules in the Nerve game says "Snitches = stitches.”  I wish people felt more safe reporting crimes in general.

Interesting lines:

• “I don’t want space.  I want you.” – Nancy
• “I’m sorry.  When you said ‘live my life’ did you mean live my life in your shadow?” – Vee
• “Vee, do you really trust that guy?  He’s the one who got you into this mess.” – Sydney

“I’M the one who got me into this mess.” – Vee

Funny lines:

• “You guys are the dumbest smart kids I’ve ever met.” – Nancy (Juliette Lewis)
• “Crazy first date, huh?” – Ian (Dave Franco)

“Is that what that was?” – Vee (Emma Roberts

Tips for parents:   

• There is a LOT of VERY risky teenage behavior.
• Direct democracy = mob mentality.  Talk to your kids about why America's Founding Fathers did all they could to prevent our government from being a direct democracy and why they chose to create a Republic instead. 
• Do your kids know about the “Dark Web”?  They probably know more about it than you do.
• Farting.  More farting.
• Profanity.
• You see people text crude comments on their cell phones.
• You see 2 teens in their underwear.
• You see another 2 teens making out on a bed at a party without all of their clothes on.

Now You See Me is mostly smoke and mirrors

Movie Title:     Now You See Me 2

  

Grade:   B

Rating:     PG-13, 115 minutes

In a Nutshell:    I loved the first movie, but this sequel just felt more like smoke and mirrors.   

Uplifting theme: 

•  “Seeing is believing, but is it truth?  It depends on your point of view.” – Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman)

Things I liked:

• Lots of twists and turns.  It’s a fun ride, because you never know what's around the corner.
• Funny sleeping scenes.
• I love all of the cast.  Two Woody Harrelsons?  Twice the fun.
• It's always fun to see places around the world.  They spend some time in London, Macau, and New York.
• SPOILER ALERT: I love it when good "bad guys" outsmart real bad guys.
• Lots of action sequences mixed in with some quick wit.

Things I didn’t like:

•  I should have re-watched the first movie so I could remember how everything left off.  There were a lot of comments made that referred to past events, so if you haven’t seen the first one, you’ll be a bit lost.
• Too many villains.
• Everyone is too cool and slick, coming off as smug characters we have a hard time feeling sorry or concern for.
• Do't get me wrong here...I love all of the actors in the film, but they kind of play the same characters they usually do in almost all of their other movies.  Well, except Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter.  Amirite?  For example, Jesse Eisenburg always plays a fast-talking genius.  Morgan Freeman always plays someone wise and mysterious.  Dave Franco always plays a playboy loose cannon.  Lizzy Caplan always plays a snarky chick.  I'm just sayin...
• A lot of things are just too implausible and ridiculous.  If you think really hard to figure it all out, most of it just doesn't make much sense.  
• Most of the lines sound like scripted performance lines, rather than spontaneous conversations.

Funny lines:

•  “Not Chinese food.  I think here it’s just called food.” - Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson)
• “I want to be completely off the Grid and do you know why?” – (Walter Tressler)    “Yeah, because the Grid is for real humans.” – J. Daniel Atlas  (Jesse Eisenberg)
• “Don’t do anything I would enjoy.” – Merritt McKinney
• “Is that weird to have more hair in your ears than on your head?” – Merritt to his twin brother

Interesting lines:

•   “The eye; it can’t lie, but don’t think for a minute it can’t be lied to.” –  Thaddeus Bradley

• Tips for parents:   

• Someone flips the bird at the camera.
• Some profanity and inappropriate language.

As the characters say, “Didja get all that?”