KIDS FIRST! News

Sure, you enjoyed the film when Disney’s Buena Vista Pictures released it 20 years ago, but now get ready to enjoy it in a whole new way. Newly tricked out in 3-D, the animated classic that spawned a live musical that took Broadway by storm is hitting the theaters for a fresh run this month as Walt Disney Studios gives it both a theatrical and DVD release. Nine-year-old KIDS FIRST! youth film critic Anthony Aranda, who’s seen Beauty and the Beast in both dimensionalities, shares what the 3-D adds to the experience.

Anthony and his fellow 2011 KIDS FIRST! youth film critics have had a great year reviewing films and interviewing celebrities. Video reviews from all the hopefuls for 2012 are posted on our partner site WonderWorldTV. Be sure to vote – voting ends this weekend, at midnight, Jan. 15.

Beauty and the Beast
Reviewed by Anthony Aranda
(See his full review on video.)

This movie is being re-released in theaters in 3-D! It was very cool to see this in 3-D since I had already seen this movie at home in 2-D. The 3-D effects add a lot to the movie.

The movie is all about Belle, who finds out her father was taken by a Beast and she sets out to save him. She decides to take her father’s place as the Beast’s prisoner so that her father can go free. Belle will have to stay at the castle for the rest of her life. Belle starts to get to know the Beast and realizes he isn’t so bad after all. There is an enchantment on the castle, and if the Beast doesn’t learn to love another and have that person return the love then he will stay a Beast forever and everyone in the castle will also stay the way they are. 

Some of the main characters in the movie are Belle, Belle’s father, the Beast and Gaston. My favorite character is Chip. He is Mrs. Potts’ son and he is a little teacup. I like him because he is super funny and so tiny and cute. At the end, he says a really funny catchphrase to make people laugh. Chip says, “Do I still have to sleep in the cupboard?” even though he already turned back into a boy. I thought that was really funny. 

The re-release of this movie in 3-D is really cool. You can really feel like you can reach out and touch the trees and the castle in the movie. The Beast in 3-D is pretty scary at first (scarier in 3-D than he was in 2-D). Also, when they sing “Be Our Guest,” that whole scene is really cool because all the dishes and silverware are singing and dancing and that looks really cool in 3-D. During the fight scene at the end of the movie when the townspeople break into the castle, the clock is coming down the stairs and it looks like he is flying right at me. They do really good job.

I recommend this movie for all ages because the scary parts in the movie aren’t that bad. The Beast may scare some younger kids but only for a minute, and throughout the movie they learn that he is really nice after all. It is also really funny. Go out and see the re-release of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in 3-D on January 13.  

Photos: Beauty and the Beast poster (top), Anthony Aranda (bottom)

The latest Mission: Impossible feature film, Paramount Pictures’ release Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, once again puts Tom Cruise leading an elite team of undercover agents (played by Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and Paula Patton) in a slick spy thriller. Unlike the capers of this film’s predecessors, this mission is not impossible to follow. While we may be suspending our disbelief that these agents can actually do the feats of skill and precision and daring that move our pulse rate into the danger zone, there are not the questions of why they’re doing them or, more basic, what exactly they’re doing that plagued Cruise’s previous Mission: Impossible forays. Fifteen-year-old KIDS FIRST! youth film critic Gabriella Chu shares why the film kept her on the edge of her seat.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Reviewed by Gabriella Chu
(See her full review on video.)

Are you into action? The latest Mission: Impossible has just been released. The Impossible Missions Force is blamed for the bombing of Kremlin, so Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team try to get back their reputation by preventing a nuclear missile from killing everyone on Earth. Can the team undertake this impossible mission?

Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol is a quick-witted picture fast on its feet. From the beginning, I was on the edge of my seat. Scene after scene, Hunt and his team are on the move. There are so many cool and inventive high-tech gadgets in the movie combined with breathtaking visuals, making it even more intense.

I recommend this film to teens 13 and up. Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol is a wonderful cinematic experience filled with action, and I think almost everyone will enjoy its fast pace.

Photos: Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol poster (top), Gabriella Chu (bottom)

The iconic Sherlock Holmes has been a favorite of mystery buffs since his introduction to English literature in 1887, earning a knighthood for his creator, the Scottish physician Arthur Conan Doyle. Yet in spite of it being such a perennial favorite with a devoted following, Warner Bros.’ releases Sherlock Holmes, in 2009, and the current Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows are the only major film adaptations since the 1939 film The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The more staid Sherlock Holmes as played by Basil Rathbone has given way to a delightfully eccentric character in Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal. As KIDS FIRST! youth film critic Gabriella Chu (age 15) points out in her review, the British flavor of the story remains strong.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Reviewed by Gabriella Chu
(See her full review on video.)

Are you into action films? The Sherlock Holmes sequel is out in theaters now. Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and his sidekick, Dr. Watson (Jude Law), try to kill their foe, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), because Holmes believes he is linked to a number of recent crimes. They discover that Moriarty invests in companies in England owning cotton and other goods. He plans to start a war so that there will be a high demand for the goods, so he can make a fortune. Will Holmes succeed in preventing this war?

The cinematography of the movie was impressive. Several action scenes were filmed in slow motion, making it more thrilling. However, the lighting of the movie is gloomy, and it doesn’t really match the tone of the movie since it is a combination of action and adventure with a dash of comedy.

The storyline of the movie didn’t quite work for me, either. Although the film is like Mission Impossible in the 19th century, it’s a bit hard hearing what the characters are saying since they have a British accent, and the plot gets confusing at some parts. I did enjoy the ending of the film, though. It was interesting watching the director’s comparison of the face-off between Holmes and Professor Moriarty to a chess game.

I recommend this film to teens 13 and up, especially to fans of Sherlock Holmes. If you have a sharp eye and keen hearing, then you might find Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows intriguing.

Photos: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows poster (top), Gabriella Chu (bottom)

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked is good for a lot of laughs for audiences of all ages. That’s the word from seasoned KIDS FIRST! youth film critic Anthony Aranda (age 9). His review gives you a taste of what to expect from this Twentieth Century Fox release that’s in theaters now.

Kids aged six to 14, if you’d like a chance to be a KIDS FIRST! youth film critic, there are still a few days left to enter the KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search. Get your submission in by midnight, Dec. 31.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Reviewed by Anthony Aranda
(See his full review on video.)

I am reviewing a really funny movie called Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. This is awesome because there is a lot of action in the movie and everything the Chipmunks and Chipettes do is so funny.

This movie is all about Dave, the Chipmunks and the Chipettes, who go on vacation and have a really big adventure. They go on a cruise ship, and Alvin keeps causing lots of trouble on the ship (like always). Alvin comes up with a really great idea to fly on top of a kite. All of the other Chipmunks and Chipettes are holding the kite while Alvin is flying, but the wind picks up too hard. They start to fly away and Simon tries to help by tying the kite to Dave’s chair (while he is sleeping). This still doesn’t work and the chair and the chipmunks start to move down the deck of the ship. Eventually, the kite slips off the chair and the chair flips over. Dave wakes up to see the Chipmunks and the Chipettes fly away on the kite.

Some of the main characters in the movie are Dave, the Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon and Theodore), the Chipettes (Eleanor, Jeanette and Brittany), Zoe and Ian. My favorite character is Alvin because he is always having fun and causing lots of trouble. I also like him because, in the end, he learns that he can still have fun while being responsible.

My favorite part in the movie is when the Chipmunks and Chipettes meet Zoe when they are stranded on the island. She invites them to meet her friends, and when they get there they see that her friends are a bunch of sports balls. It’s really funny because it seems like she is a little crazy since she has been on the island for so long. We figure out later that there are spiders on the island that change a person’s personality and make them act differently. Later in the movie, Simon gets bitten by one of the spiders and then he starts acting like someone else. It is really funny.

I would recommend this movie for all ages because it is super funny and there was no violence or parts that would scare anyone. It also shows how much family means and that most families would do anything for each other. Go out and see this movie.

Photos: Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked poster (top); Anthony Aranda (bottom)

As 15-year-old KIDS FIRST! youth film critic Gabriella Chu points out in her review of Walt Disney Studios release War Horse, war does not impact only the human participants. “It has a severe effect … on animals, too.” In addition to viewing the film’s screening at its red carpet event in New York, Gabriella – as a KIDS FIRST! youth film critic – had the opportunity to interview Michael Morpurgo, the author of the book on which the film is based. Gabriella’s insightful review will resonate with adults as well as with her fellow teens.

War Horse
Reviewed by Gabriella Chu
(See her full review on video.)

The acclaimed War Horse play and children’s book is now on the big screen! War Horse is a heartwarming tale about a father who buys a horse for his son on a whim. His son, Albert (played by Jeremy Irvine), develops an unbreakable bond with his horse, Joey. However, World War I approaches, and Joey is drafted into the military. Will the two ever reunite?

The movie has a charming story. When I interviewed the author of the children’s book War Horse, Michael Morpurgo, he told me that his book shows how war does not produce a severe effect on only people but on animals, too, specifically horses. It is interesting watching director Steven Spielberg’s translation of that theme into film. One notable scene shows the horse, Joey, galloping fiercely through no man’s land but then forced to slow down after he is tangled in a bunch of wires. After intense war, both opposing sides come together to detangle the horse! I found it touching because it shows that it takes both sides to solve a problem, and when the movie shows both soldiers cutting the wires from the horse, I thought of it as a symbol, like they were ending their conflict between each other. The cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, filmed the scene beautifully, which helped produce such an emotional effect on the audience.

The cinematography in general is wonderful, especially when Kaminski zooms in on the feet of the horses and the faces of the horses as they gallop across the vast fields. Most of the beauty of the movie comes from the horses, and I think the horse trainers did an impeccable job, particularly Zelie Bullen, who trained the main horse, Joey.

I recommend this movie to teens ages 13 and up. It is a pleasant family film because it is not too brutal, yet it still packs in all of the action and intensity of war. The movie is a bit slow in the beginning, so younger teens may get bored, but it quickly picks up the pace as the war begins. This is a moving tale to watch and will bring the entire family together for the holidays.

Photos: War Horse poster (top), Gabriella Chu (bottom)