The best children’s movies of 2009

DVD and Blu-Ray best children’s movies of 2009

As the parent of a 6-year-old, I’ve spent a fair amount of time in theaters this year and have seen most, if not all, of the major children’s movies released in 2009. So I thought it would be helpful to give you my brief reviews and opinions on which are the best movies for children or families of 2009 that will be available to buy on Blu Ray or DVD for Christmas. I’m going to review them from my point of view as a parent, and from my son’s point of view, as to whether or not he enjoyed it, and whether or not I think he’ll hold up to repeat viewings at home.

These are not in chronological order, I’m just adding them as they come to me:

1. Marley and me.

Marley and Me was a strange movie. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that they were two parallel movies that could have been smart if they both worked. On the one hand, Marley and Me was a movie for middle-aged men who were approaching or coming out of their midlife crisis. She tackled topics such as the loss of men when entering a relationship, the difficulties of independence juggling work and home life, and problems with having children and families. I have to say it handled these issues very well and as an adult movie I thought it was pretty good and Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston were excellent. However, the film had been marketed as a goofy family comedy revolving around a big, goofy dog, Marley. My son and I had watched the trailers for the movie while watching other movies at the theater (can’t remember exactly which ones, but probably like Hotel for Dogs and Monsters Versus Aliens, see below). The trailer focuses on the crazy antics of the dog and its owners. Actually what you get is the adult themes as explained above, intertwined with Marley being the constant in the couple’s relationship and it all goes well until the last half hour when oh my gosh it turns into one of the most heartbreaking movies ever. and heartbreaking throughout, making Kes look like an episode of Dancing on Ice. Marley grows old and ill. He eventually has to be put to sleep. You might think that’s pretty bad, except it’s not. It’s much worse. You are forced to watch each member of the family say a heartbreaking goodbye to his old friend as he loses the fight for survival, culminating in Wilson’s presence as he administers the lethal injection to put Marley to sleep. And it doesn’t even end there: then you have the utter desperation of all the kids reading their eulogies to the now-dead Marley at the poor dog’s family funeral. My son was crying (as was most of the audience) and was actually quite angry that the movie was so sad. I never would have taken him to see him if he had known what it was really about and I would have felt so guilty for putting him through it, along with the difficult problems for young children like death. Amateur psychoanalysis aside, I’d say this is definitely NOT a movie for young children. I’m not sure if it’s even a movie for older teens.

So, the rating (out of ten):

Parent Score: 8
Sound Score: 1
Repeatability: 2
Average: 3.6 out of 10.

Is it worth buying Marley and Me as a Christmas gift for children? Definitely not. (Worth buying it for Dad!).

Marley and Me is based on a book of the same name, of course (and there are other Marley books in the series) and the book is also worth checking out.

2. Hotel for Dogs.

Hotel for Dogs was a much better proposition. A pair of teenage orphans in foster care are forced to go to extreme measures when their dog needs a place to stay. They have to hide him from his horrible (but superbly played) foster parents and stumble upon a grand old disused hotel (obviously dreamed of before the real estate boom of the 1990s, when every spare inch of vacant land seemed to turn into at least 20 apartments). . ). I won’t spoil the story for you, but it involved the two boys, their social worker, their adoptive parents, and most of all, a wide variety of dogs whom the boys saved from the kennel (and extermination) with the help of a few other boys. who work at the local pet store. It’s a very good movie and one of our favorites this year. In fact, we saw it twice in the cinema and I had no problem with it!

So, the rating (out of ten):

Parent Score: 9
Sound Score: 9
Repeatability: 7
Average: 8.3 out of 10.

Is it worth buying Hotel for Dogs as a Christmas gift for children? Definitely yes.

3. G-Force

G-Force recently came out in 3D and 2D versions. Unfortunately, our local theater doesn’t support 3-D, so we end up watching it in normal viewing. I must admit I was skeptical that G-Force was very good. We’d seen the trailers which looked pretty funny, but I had a feeling it could be a one trick pony. Although happily I was wrong. G-Force tracks the exploits of a group of specially trained guinea pigs (hence the G) along with a tech genius Mole, who are wielded by a (naturally) slightly eccentric but brilliant government-paid scientist. When the government “feds” decide to end his funding, Coach is desperate to get his team to solve a major crime in the making. Again, I won’t spoil the story, but it’s a lot of fun with great characterization and good human acting as well. Very nice.

So, G-Force’s rating of the movie (out of ten):

Parent Score: 8
Sound Score: 9
Repeatability: 7
Average: 8 out of 10.

Is it worth buying G-Force as a Christmas gift for children? YES. We also have the PSP game and that’s also very good. I can’t comment on the other formats, but they are probably worth getting. However, it is a bit tricky for very young children.

4. Aliens in the attic.

Aliens in the Attic was another summer vacation release. It features aliens landing on earth during a “meteor shower” in a house containing two vacationing families with an obnoxious boyfriend in tow with a device that allows them to use people as remote controlled devices. And that’s, er, about him really. It was slow to start and was really something of a one-trick pony. It seemed to be an oddly retro ensemble, like it was trying to claim an ET-type place in movie history (kids in Activision video game t-shirts etc and retro haircuts), though it also featured the internet, so it obviously didn’t It was supposed. set in the 1970s. It didn’t really work out for us. We both get bored very quickly. The story was poor, and the aliens were like crazy and annoying little frogs.

So, the rating of Aliens in the Attic (out of ten):

Parent Score: 3
Sound Score: 3
Repeatability: 3
Average: 3 out of 10.

Is it worth buying as a Christmas gift for children? Definitely NOT in our opinion.

5. Monsters vs. Aliens

Monsters Versus Aliens was another movie that was released in 3-D, and again, we couldn’t see it in 3-D. It featured lovely big animated characters and basically revolved around three “monsters” who had been taken to live in a government science lab (including a lady who had been hit by a meteorite on her wedding day which turned her into “Ginormica” an enormously tall woman, all in proportion, it was not a cake attack). They were sent in a last attempt to conquer a large alien body that the military had been unable to destroy with conventional weapons. Again, plot spoilers withheld. However, it was a very fun game, well done and entertaining enough. However, we didn’t think it would hold up so well on repeat viewings. It was definitely worth seeing it once, but I don’t think it will burn on our home DVD player.

So, the Monsters Versus Aliens rating (out of ten):

Parent Score: 7
Sound Score: 8
Repeatability: 5
Average: 6.6 out of 10.

Is it worth buying Monsters Versus Aliens as a Christmas gift for children? Maybe (but definitely worth seeing once). More yes than no! There are also plenty of Monsters Vs Aliens toys available if your little darlings were particularly impressed with the movie.

7 up!

Up! it’s the latest from the Disney Pixar stable and we were lucky enough to get some preview tickets to see the film in 3-D in Leicester Square several months ago. It had beautiful animations (using computer graphics, of course) and the 3-D was effective, but probably not essential in my opinion. It’s a charming story about a man who is about to be committed to a nursing home. Having previously worked as a balloon seller with his late wife when he was young, he decides to embark on one last journey to find a place (Paradise Falls somewhere in South America) that they had both dreamed of visiting as children, but never did. they had achieved. round to He sets off the morning of his departure for the nursing home by launching thousands of helium-filled balloons tethered to his house that lift her up and away on adventure. Once airborne, he discovers a young “Nature Scout” named Kevin who had been on his porch at the time of his free life, and the two bond as they go on their adventures. It’s a lovely film, although I couldn’t help but feel that something was missing from the story. Much of the story time is spent with not much happening, and I felt like it should have been a bit more in-depth or involving, although I can’t say why that should be.

So the rating of Up! (of ten):

Parent Score: 9
Sound Score: 9
Repeatability: 8
Average: 8.6 out of 10.

It is worth to buy it! as a Christmas gift for children? Definitely yes.

8. Ice Age 3. Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

The third part of the Ice Age series, and I must admit I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought the first part was good, the second part was okay, but not very exciting. As it turned out, he was right to be cautious. Ice Age 3 had a rather dull plot involving a quest to retrieve a lost friend (Sid) who had slipped away due to him being usurped into the affections of a great mammoth by the impending birth of the mammoth’s first child. Sid himself adopts three baby dinosaurs after stumbling upon their eggs, but is later kidnapped by his mother who comes looking for them. Sid is taken to a jungle of prehistoric dinosaurs, and the others have to (naturally) find him and then get back out. I’m not sure why it didn’t work for us, but it didn’t. I know it’s geared towards kids, but it was predictable and pretty boring. There are some funny bits, but the fight between Sid and his new friend over an acorn was funny for 5 minutes, but it seemed to come every 10 minutes for the entire movie.

So, the rating (out of ten):

Parent Score: 5
Sound Score: 6
Repeatability: 3
Average: 4.6 out of 10.

Is it worth buying as a Christmas gift for children? Not unless your kids are completely into the Ice Age movies. That concludes my roundup of the best kids’ movies of 2009.