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I took my boys, 9 & 11, to see this movie back to back with Spy Kids II. They liked Spy Kids II better. I liked this one better.The movie has a lot of suspense, but relatively little violence, which is good, from my point of view. Very small children are going to find it too scary, but it was not at all too scary for kids the age of mine.The CG characters are fairly well-developed, as are the kids, but the human adults are somewhat cartoonish -- sort of an interesting turnabout. The mother is an especially intriguing caricature. She is a traditional '50's type mother -- except that she wears incredibly tight clothes and swings her hips rather dramatically when she walks. There is one bedroom scene, where the parents are fairly demurely dressed in pajamas, except that there is one -- again rather dramatic -- profile shot of the mother showing that her nightie is skin tight and that she has an exceptional, Playboy type figure. I guess they have to put these things in so that fathers who bring their kids to movies won't complain too much. This mom is an odd juxtaposition, saying all these staid, stay-at-home mom type things, but her body language and clothing are sending very slutty messages. It was strange seeing this in a children's movie.By contrast, the Dad is a cartoonish, nerd, though a good father.The little boy is much more normal seeming, except that he acts older than his body looks.Basically, the human actors are just props, and the real action revolves around the CG characters: Stuart, Margolo, and the hawk -- and the cat, who is possibly not CG, but at least has a CG mouth. They seem real, while the people seem fake.The movie, despite the slightly odd mother, promotes traditional family values of love and acceptance. I thought the best line in the movie was that of the little bird, that the Littles don't seem to have very much, just each other. Of course, actually they have an exceptionally nice townhouse; but never mind: the point is that they love and support each other and by acting together they can accomplish what none of them can accomplish separately and material possessions are not too important. The movie is very short. You don't really feel like you've seen a whole movie. Still it was nice. I'm glad I went.
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