3 stars***

Much fun and entertainment arrives with this Disney movie. It’s suitable for (almost) all age ranges, which as we know, increases food sales at the cinema. Some young kids under 9 might get scared at a few anxiety driven points.

The story is far-fetched and that doesn’t matter because they make it believable and force you to show an interest in all the lead characters.

Two aliens (who look just like humans) team up with a Las Vegas cab driver (played well by Dwayne Johnson). They need to carry out some actions on earth so that it’s saved and so they can get back to their family. They’re being pursued by a guy who might have been in the Terminator.

This movie has been made before, as Escape to Witch Mountain and Return to Witch Mountain.

The screenplay is well written by Andy Fickman, Mark Bomback and Matt Lopez. They’re obviously taken the school of screenplay writing in Hollywood minute by minute standards and apply this knowledge magnificently.

I haven’t read the original novel by Alexander Key so I hope someone can tell me if this movie maintains any resemblance of the novel.

The special effects are worked in well without being too over the top. You kind of accept them as being real and capable from the Aliens, but the cab driver does become too strong in beating off the terminator impersonator when the information we’re given states that this isn’t possible.

This aside, it’s a pleasant ride through the 99 minutes with nothing to take your mind off the movie. The music from former ‘Yes’ man Trevor Rabin fits well without taking over. A sure sign that all’s well with this production.

kids rating 3 stars***

It’s a Disney movie so you should know what to expect, accept it didn’t do it for me; it didn’t feel like a family movie, just a kid’s movie. In truth, this should be a 6 year old’s review of how they saw it.

Luckily, having a six year old daughter gives me that point of view.

She though it was very good. She liked the dogs. She liked the way they all went to Mexico to find the dog when it went missing. She was scared when the Doberman looked like it might eat the star. She was glad when the dog was saved. It was fun.

From an older point of view the trailer was brilliant. It contained all the good lines and the good jokes from the longer version, so I could have saved over an hour of my life by just watching the trailer and missing the movie. In the end, I gained the most because I spent quality time with my daughter, which is so valuable in terms of life appreciation. We talked about the movie; she came to me for a cuddle when she was scared. She enjoyed the pizza and water.

Again, I wonder why studios need to spend so much on the cast when its audience (five to eight years old) couldn’t care less who voices the dogs? I know it sells tickets to the parents and guardians, uncles and grandparents, but why?

I was saved from the $6 double bill of High School Musical 3 because one film is enough for a six year old in one stretch, especially if you want them to spend more time reading and keeping your own sanity. I understand (from those that stayed for both films) that I saw the better one by a millions miles. Oh I feel so lucky sometimes.

I’ll go and see any Drew Barrymore film as she brings a presence to her movies. Please be in person next time as your voice only, doesn’t save the day.

Please Disney, you got it right with 101 Dalmatians and so many others. I really believed in those dogs and watch it on DVD every four months and always with my daughter.

Just show me the trailer to Beverley Hills Chihuahua on continuous loop and I’ll laugh my tail off.

‘I didn’t know what was happening so I fell asleep.’ Well not me, but one of my companions on this fun filled visit to the local movie theatre. Actually two of them fell asleep, so that’s 50% of our team. They didn’t miss all of the film, but probably a third of it, so the ending might have rejuvenated them or perhaps it was just the thought of the film ending and home time being just around the corner. They may have been tired; it might have been the movie.

WALL-E has some interesting surprises; it’s probably not the film you expected it to be. When you see it listed as a child’s film you think it’s going to be full of tempo, fun, jokes and excitement. WALL-E is not that movie. WALL-E is a computer animated adventure and science fiction film.

Firstly, it’s a Walt Disney film so you know the standard must be high. It’s also a PIxar movie, so you now expect brilliance and you get it, but in the quality of the film making, not necessarily in the expected ways of entertainment and fun.

It takes us through a romance between two robots from the future. Instead of dialogue, we get the robot’s sounds and body language.

WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth-Class) meets EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator.) EVE is trying to find life on earth. WALL-E has found life on earth after 700 years. The humans in space have been waiting to go back to their earth, but are now all television watching cabbage potatoes losing bone structure, but having gained body mass from what looks like 30+ meals a week at their local greasy fast food eatery.

Sigourney Weaver is one of the voices used and I can’t help but wonder why these types of movies need such expensive (no offence Ms Weaver) big name stars to ‘talk’ for the animated characters when they don’t need to appear on the film, in person. I’m told because they are the world’s elite actors they give the world’s best performances required by the animators. I can’t help that think that many skilled actors could have done the task for many millions less, but that won’t make the theatre ticket price any less. I don’t believe we go to the cinema to hear our stars when we visit an animated feature.

The movie isn’t thrilling; it is enjoyable as it sends out two clear messages of love between two people (well here, it’s two robots) and the message that if we don’t take care of the planet we’ll lose what we have and need to live in a spaceship somewhere orbiting a long way, away waiting for the earth to restore itself without our help.

It’s the only film I’ve ever seen that features a loyal cockroach. This animal made it though the dirt and grime of the human race. That shouldn’t have been a surprise. Perhaps we all learn something. I’ve learnt that the message will have been lost on too many of its audience; it’s too clever at getting the message across. Most of the audience where I saw this movie was aged between five and ten years old. I hope the message was at least subliminal, but I’m not convinced. I’m looking forward to Ice Age 3.