Kleckner Family Movie Reviews

Our family has hit a major milestone. I’m not actually sure when it happened but I just recently realized it. We love to go to movies together. My kids are old enough to sit through an entire movie without complaining, fidgeting, needing to go to the bathroom, being bored and complaining of hunger. We are in the sweet spot people. (insert angels singing)

There are so many good movies out right now that we’ve taken advantage of. We even went to a movie on Christmas day for the first time. I was not very excited to get out of my warm flannel pajamas but I have to admit we had a lot of fun (plus, Kleckner’s get VERY antsy if we’re stuck in the house all day).

Without further ado, here are the movie reviews for the four movies we’ve seen recently with a rating scale of A+ to F and a vague one-sentence description that likely will not describe the movie very well at all.

1. Coco - the story of a boy who loves music, is forbidden to have anything to do with music and randomly wanders into the after-life and has fun interactions with skeletons. Or something like that.
• Owen (7): C
• I really liked the music but not the skeletons (they were creepy).
• Emily (9): D+
• It was really sad and not very funny. Oh, and someone got murdered.
• Ella (11): C+
• It was a different and weird genre - it is hard to explain.
• Dad: Didn't go, would most certainly have LOVED it....not. :-)
• Mom: B
• Cute movie. I expected to be a little "scarier" for young kids with all of the skeletons but they did a good job with it. Had a ton of follow up questions during the car ride home.
2. Jumanji - four high schoolers are forced into detention together and get sucked into a video game they discovered while NOT doing the work they were supposed to be doing (sorry, the mom in me came out a little right there). Hilarity ensues as they try to defeat the game and make it back home.
• Owen (7): A+
• I really like jungles and video games. There were some parts I didn't understand like when the guy blew up.
• Emily (9): B+
• It was super funny and exciting but not scary.
• Ella (11): C+
• I really liked it - a cool movie. But you knew what was going to happen. And there were a few cuss words.
• Dad: B+
• Funny and clever, Jack Black was great. Good humor for the adults but the kids still enjoyed it.
• Mom: B+
• I did not see the original Jumanji and to be perfectly honest I was not super excited to see this one. But it exceeded my expectations! It was hilarious! Jack Black and The Rock were great. I did have to exchange glances at the hubby occasionally when there were questionable parts for the kiddos, but overall I really liked it.
3. Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Please don't make me explain this movie. I was a last minute fill-in to go to the movie when one of the kids couldn't make it. It takes place in space. Harrison Ford was NOT in it. Princess Leia did NOT have side buns. Rey was adorable. That's all.
• Owen (7): B+
• The thing I didn't like was the ending because you never know what's going to happen in the next movie. I liked that they had a bunch of adventures.
• Emily (9): A-
• It was super funny and exciting. Kylo Ren hasn't even made up his mind yet what side he's on. [Direct Emily quote]: "Dude, we've had three movies of you, just pick!"
• Ella (11): A+
• It had a ton of twists and turns and opened up so many theories for the next movie. Glad it focused on new characters instead of just Luke.
• Dad: B
• I liked itl Some of the humor was distracting (Star Wars humor should be cheesy and they tried to be cute). Didn't develop the Snoke storyline enough. Overall, they did okay, looking forward to a new director next time.
• Mom: C+
• I had to go with a very average rating mostly because I'm not very familiar with Star Wars movies (I did see the one with Natalie Portman in it, that was not bad). Having my husband, an eleven-year-old and a seven-year-old try to explain the entire Star Wars franchise to me in a 15-minute car ride to the movie was not super successful. Besides my lack of backstory knowledge, it actually was a decent movie. I kind of followed it. Am I looking forward to the next movie? Nope.
4. The Greatest Showman: a movie/musical based (loosely) on the life of P.T. Barnum.
• Owen (7): A-
• I really liked the music part, but the movie was not really surprising. You knew what was going to happen at the end.
• Emily (9): A+
• It had a lot of good songs, was kinda funny and really entertaining.
• Ella (11): A-
• It was really, really good but I think they could have done more with it matching the real history of P.T. Barnum. (Sidenote: this girl came home from the movie and researched P.T. Barnum for hours and told us everything the movie stayed true to and changed from real life).
• Dad: B+
• Better than I thought it would be. Music wasn't sing-songy. Good message. Child actors weren't annoying.
• Mom: A+++++++++++++
• Let me start by saying that everyone has different tastes in movies (I don't want to build this review up and you end up not liking it, oh the pressure!). But truthfully, this is the best movie I've ever seen. From the first second until the last second it was entertaining. I had tears in my eyes for 75% of the movie. But not "This Is Us" tears...the good and happy kind of tears. The only reason I was glad it was over is because I really had to go to the bathroom (TMI?). Otherwise, I could have stayed and watched the whole thing again. And again. And again. I'm planning to see it again this week. The music. The message. The eye candy. Pure gold. How's that for a glowing review?

So there you have it! Have you seen any of these movies? Or have recommendations for movies the Kleckner family should see next?

Until Next Time,
Neko