Posted on: Friday, July 25, 2008
MOVIE SCENE
Family Fare
By Roger Moore
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
'SPACE CHIMPS'
Rating: G
What it's about: Trained chimps and a descendant of the first space ape, Ham, are sent off to search for intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.
The kid-attractor factor: They're chimps, and they talk and mingle with (and battle) all manner of aliens.
Good lessons/bad lessons: "Live up to your legacy."
Violence: Scary bits with one toothy beast, but otherwise slapstick only.
Language: Clean, with the odd potty reference
Sex: Chimps trying out pick-up lines.
Drugs: None.
Parents' advisory: Perfectly fine for 12-and-unders.
'THE DARK KNIGHT'
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence.
What it's about: Batman and those in his orbit face moral dilemmas when Gotham is assaulted by The Joker.
The kid-attractor factor: Kids love Batman movies.
Good lessons/bad lessons: Torture and mass invasion of privacy can be countenanced, as long as it is done by the righteous for righteous reasons.
Violence: Staggering, even for a Batman movie. Torture, killings, violence against women, men, children and dogs. However, we don't see the blood.
Language: A wisecrack that would win Jesse Jackson's seal of approval.
Sex: None.
Drugs: Alcohol is consumed.
Parents' advisory: The violence takes this right to the precipice of an R rating.
