KIDS FIRST! News

From Dreamworks comes a new animated feature, Home with an adorable misfit from another planet who lands on Earth, makes friends with the locals and everyone discovers the true meaning of the word Home. Starring Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and Steve Martin, this film is filled with music and humor and is perfect for you to share with the younger members of your family. KIDS FIRST! Critics Harmony M. comments, “The film serves as great entertainment with its loveable characters, hilarious dialogue and feel good tone.” Madeline R. adds, “The message of this film is that family is important and it’s good to face your problems or fears instead of running from them.” See their full reviews and Gerry O’s interviews with cast and crew below.

Home
By Harmony M., KIDS FIRST! Critics, age 15

From DreamWorks, comes the delightful film Home. The film serves as great entertainment with its loveable characters, hilarious dialogue and feel good tone. The film is about an alien species, called the Boov, that invade planet Earth in an attempt to hide from an evil monster called the Gorg. By doing so, the alien race makes themselves at home and relocates all the humans elsewhere. While all the humans are transported, a young girl named Tip gets left behind and later encounters a Boov named Oh. Oh and Tip join together in search of Tip’s mother who got taken away during previous alien invasion. A lot unfolds when Tip’s mother is not the only one who needs saving.

It is very enjoyable and even shocking to hear familiar voices in the film such as Jim Parsons who plays Oh, Rihanna who plays Tip, Steve Martin who plays Captain Smek and Jennifer Lopez who plays Lucy. Jim Parsons is delightful as the voice of Oh. They couldn’t have chosen a better actor for that role. Oh is an overly friendly, silly, trouble-making, outcast, who not only steals the hearts of the audience with his facial expressions and personality, but also with a voice that fits that perfectly. Fans of The Big Bang Theory will be so pleased to see his character, Sheldon in cartoon form. Home is Rihanna’s first role in an animation film. Considering that, her portrayal of the sassy and adventurous Tip are spot on.

I find it very unique that the Boovs change colors depending on their emotion, especially because I have not seen that feature in any other type of film. The dialogue is really funny because the Boovs speak with improper grammar which adds a comedic touch that all ages will love. The futuristic technology shown in the movie is fascinating, it will be especially appealing to the younger crowd.

The film is entertaining to watch and one I would enjoy watching again. Although the film is very good, it’s not good enough to be a new classic or one that will be very memorable in the long run. It is cute, friendly, very funny, has amazing messages and puts you in a good mood.  I recommend this uplifting film to people of all ages, especially between the ages of 5 and 11. Overall, I give the film a 4 out of 5 stars. It is playing in theaters now.

HOME
By Madeline R. KIDS FIRST! Critics, Age 10

Home is a new animated family film from Dreamworks.  The screenplay was written by Tom Astle and Matt Ember and he film was directed by Tim Johnson.

I love this movie!  It is a fun, action-packed adventurous movie the whole family can enjoy together.

Home is about an alien named Oh who runs away from his own people, the Boovs who are trying to hide from the Gorg.  He lands on Earth and meets an adorable and feisty girl named Gratuity Tucci, who everyone calls Tip.  Oh and Tip form an unlikely friendship and go on an exciting adventure together to find Lucy, Tip’s mom.

Home features a star studded cast.  Jim Parsons is brilliant as the voice and personality of Oh and Steve Martin is hilarious as the voice of the Captain Smek, the cowardly leader of the Oh’s.   Rihanna plays the fun, yet determined Tip and Jennifer Lopez plays her sweet Mother, Lucy.

As a special bonus, both superstars perform original songs for the film which adds a lot of emotion and drama.  Be sure to listen for Rihanna’s new single “Towards the Sun” and Jennifer Lopez’s new song “Feel the Light”.

The animation is spectacular.  I love how Oh and Tip ride in Tip’s newly “fixed” car powered by multi-flavored slushis.  My favorite scene is when Tip tries to teach Oh jokes to help make him feel better.  She does the “Interrupting Cow” Knock Knock joke. It’s really funny because it takes him a while to get it!

The message of this film is that family is important and it’s good to face your problems or fears instead of running from them. Home is great for families of all ages, especially for families with kids between 4 and 14.  I give Home 5 out of 5 stars. I love it and think you will too!  Home is in theaters nationwide now.

This new story explores an ancient myth of a fabled creature whose distant roar sparks the curiosity of Tinker Bell’s (Mae Whitman) good friend Fawn (Ginnifer Goodwin), an animal fairy who’s not afraid to break the rules to help an animal in need. But this animal – massive and strange with glowing green eyes – is not really welcome in Pixie Hollow and the scout fairies are determined to capture the mysterious beast before it destroys their home.

Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast
By Kendyl Powell, KIDS FIRST! Critic, age 13

Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast is an adventurous movie about Tinker Bell and her good friend Fawn, (Ginnifer Goodwin) an animal fairy with a big heart and an adventurous mind.  As Fawn is flying through the forest, she notices a mysterious cave and hears a weird sound coming from inside. Fawn immediately flies inside the cave to see what is happening. Fawn discovers a mysterious creature that no one knows anything about. She begins to observe the creature and notices he does a lot of strange things. Fawn names him Gruff. Nyx and the other fairies try to capture the big green-eyed beast because they fear he will bring harm and danger to Pixie Hollow. Fawn tries her best to convince Tink, Nyx and their scout friends and fairies not to harm Gruff.

My favorite character is Nyx (Rosario Dawson). Nyx is apart of the Scout fairies. She protects the fairies in Pixie Hollow and tries to get rid of anything that would harm them. Nyx is very cool, confident and strong. She likes to get her job done.

My favorite scene is when Fawn tries to help Gruff hide from Nyx and the other fairies. As Fawn tries to hide Gruff in a secret place, he lets out a very loud and big sneeze and he sneezes on all the other fairies. It is really funny.

The message of this movie is not to judge people. Gruff is a creature that only wakes up every 1000 years for a special task. Everyone in Pixie Hallow thinks he is a bad beast. He is actually a nice creature.

The DVD/Blue-Ray combo has bonus features which include never before seen bonus extras, access to cool computer games, five ingredients to getting Gruff, The True Story of the Neverbeast and so much more!

Tinker Bell and the Legend of the Neverbeast is a fabulous movie.  It will be available on DVD/Blue-Ray/Digital on March 3, 2015. I recommend it for boys and girls ages 3 to 10. I give this move 5 out of 5 shinning stars.