99% of these comments fall into either of these two categories:
1. OMG, NOT FOR KIDS! Somebody dies! Attack on Christianity! Not like the trailer! 2. This is the best movie ever!
In reality it is somewhere in between. To the haters, realize this movie is really about young adolescence NOT childhood. They two are very different stages in life. What boy of 12 or 13 hasn't had a killer crush on some 20-something woman? I know I did. What boy of 12 or 13 hasn't felt the weight of adult responsibility starting to tug on him and escaped through fantasy? I know I did. What group of children HASN'T had the discussion, away from parents, about the fear of eternal damnation? You are lying if you say you didn't. Remember when girls were tall, and seemed to be full of confidence, while we were still short and lacking it? I do. All these things are fairly normal parts of early adolescence, as are whisperings of parental abuse, and confronting issues of death.
All the above does NOT mean that this movie had some agenda to push on children at the expense of their parents. If anything you should be thankful for being reminded of what being that age is about... maybe it will help you talk to your kids. Two of my friends died when I was a teenager... One of my son's schoolmates was killed by a falling tree a few years back. Death is part of life and we can't shelter children from that fact. This movie provided a good prompting for that issue and others.
On the other hand, this is not a cinematic masterpiece either. It is just a nice little movie. I brought my 13 year old son, and we both enjoyed it as a way to pass a Sunday afternoon. It provided some nice issues for further discussion, but neither of us are gushing about it.
I gave it a 6 because it fell right in the middle - not really a great movie, but certainly not awful. I added one star for the fact that after reading the rantings of so many of the folks that hated it, I figured they needed the poke in the eye more than the folks that loved this movie.
--chuck in the rural pacific northwest
1. OMG, NOT FOR KIDS! Somebody dies! Attack on Christianity! Not like the trailer! 2. This is the best movie ever!
In reality it is somewhere in between. To the haters, realize this movie is really about young adolescence NOT childhood. They two are very different stages in life. What boy of 12 or 13 hasn't had a killer crush on some 20-something woman? I know I did. What boy of 12 or 13 hasn't felt the weight of adult responsibility starting to tug on him and escaped through fantasy? I know I did. What group of children HASN'T had the discussion, away from parents, about the fear of eternal damnation? You are lying if you say you didn't. Remember when girls were tall, and seemed to be full of confidence, while we were still short and lacking it? I do. All these things are fairly normal parts of early adolescence, as are whisperings of parental abuse, and confronting issues of death.
All the above does NOT mean that this movie had some agenda to push on children at the expense of their parents. If anything you should be thankful for being reminded of what being that age is about... maybe it will help you talk to your kids. Two of my friends died when I was a teenager... One of my son's schoolmates was killed by a falling tree a few years back. Death is part of life and we can't shelter children from that fact. This movie provided a good prompting for that issue and others.
On the other hand, this is not a cinematic masterpiece either. It is just a nice little movie. I brought my 13 year old son, and we both enjoyed it as a way to pass a Sunday afternoon. It provided some nice issues for further discussion, but neither of us are gushing about it.
I gave it a 6 because it fell right in the middle - not really a great movie, but certainly not awful. I added one star for the fact that after reading the rantings of so many of the folks that hated it, I figured they needed the poke in the eye more than the folks that loved this movie.
--chuck in the rural pacific northwest