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Reviews
Fear of the Dark (2003)
Little kids can't carry a movie...
I thought the concept was good, the spookiness was there, the thrill of "what's in the shadows" was pretty real, but 80% of the movie is carried by two actors, a pre-teen and a pre-adult. I feel they did a good job of acting but they were in no way good enough to carry the movie. Too many times, the young boy is scared (unconvincingly) and his older brother is yelling at him to "settle down, settle down"...8 or 9 times of this gets very old and would take supreme acting to sell it to me.
I'm by no means a movie creator, so I can't say whose fault this next problem belongs to (probably the writer), but when the parents left, they told the older brother about the generator AND the young boy even said, "Dad, I can hear you". So both boys know about the generator (especially the young boy who has the absolute fear of the dark). Yet, well after the darkness has set in and the boys are scared and confused and running throughout the house, at no point did it occur to them to turn on the generator. This frustrated me through the whole darkness sequence and doubly frustrated me when the generator was turned on and ended the whole thing. At least have them turn it on and find something wrong with it. This would have been enough to make me not worry about it anymore.
You'll watch it once, but only once.
The Polar Express (2004)
What family traditions are built on.
This story is a wonderful story and the movie does it great justice! It's a fantasy journey that keeps you wondering where it's going while keeping the kids entertained. In the end, the pay-off is there with a wonderful way to encompass the 'Christmas Spirit'. It has something for everyone because it gives a deep meaning to the spirit of Christmas but doesn't necessarily detract from the true meaning of Christmas, which is Jesus Christ and all the religion that surrounds Him. The first time I watched it, I wasn't sure what I was experiencing because I didn't read the book. I therefore didn't let myself get too involved for fear that it might take away from the true meaning of Christmas. What a wonderful surprise when it didn't! The next year, I couldn't wait to see it again but I refused to watch it until Christmas time. This movie will be a family tradition and will only be viewed during the month of December. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.