Christian Movie Review: Australia

Australia was a very picturesque movie. We got to see awesome shots of the Australian Outback. It starts two powerhouses; Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. The movie is very well made and the acting is top notch.

There are many thing to love about this film…the love, courage, strength, honor, loyalty, overcoming hardships and true friendship and much more. It truly is a great film.

However, there are some flaws that cannot be ignored. The require serious discussion for your older children. I do not recommend this film for younger viewers. It is not only way above their heads, there are scenes that are just not appropriate for them.

OK, back to the flaws…

There is a lot of racism in this movie. The people who are part white and part Aborigine are treated very unkindly by the whites and are called “creamies.” It is hard to watch and hear some of the stuff. However, it is a reality that these people faced and is very historical to Australia in that time period.

There is also a strong undertone of the Aborigine religious culture and a witch doctor is in the movie. However, they do not go crazy with this and he is not a major part of the film. However, it is there and must be discussed.

As far as sexual content, there is no nudity, other than the naked but of an Aborigine man. There is a brief lovemaking scene and a few comments. The only thing that really stood out for me was when Hugh Jackman poured water over his bare chest. They panned in on it and it was not hard to look at! LOL! I had to check myself…I even told my husband that if they had too much of that, I would need to leave. The man is just to nice to look at! LOL! However, it was only one scene…whew!

The language was not that bad…except for the racist slurs, of course. There was a lot of violence and death that is hard for children to see. That is one of the reasons I do not recommend this film for younger viewers.

As a whole, I really liked this film. It was a nice mixture of romance, adventure and good triumphing over evil. This is a great date night movie! I give Australia 3 out of 4 stars.

(Reviewed by: Lara Velez)

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National Treasure: Book of Secrets

National Treasure Book of Secrets is part two in a series similar to an Indiana Jones type movie. There were some flaws that cannot be ignored though. It is still a decent movie, however, it has some issues that you may need to take the time to discuss with you children.

Let me explain…

There is a blasé attitude about Ben and Abby having lived together. While that is the norm in this society, it will never be the right thing. And, having that in there makes it difficult for me to really be completely OK with it. I mean what we allow our children to see and hear affects them…so, we must be careful and make sure we discuss the sinful aspects of movies to protect them from the culture.

The violence in nothing too bad. However, there is a lot of lying, trespassing and disregard for the law. To me the law is not considered important in this movie. Your belief that you’re doing the right thing out weighs that. Again, an issue our kids need to realize is NOT OK.

There is no bad language and the overall movie is clean and decent. However, movies like this scare me more than the in you face sin movies. It is those subtle issues that begin to eat away at bout moral compass. Those little foxes that begin to desensitized us.

Yes, see the movie. Yes, it is OK for the family. However, never be comfortable with sin no matter how clean the movie is compared to others out there. Always take the time to talk about the issues and flaws of a movie. This will teach your children the difference between a world view and a WORD view.

I rate this movie 3 out of 4 stars.

(Reviewed by: Lara Velez)

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Christian Movie Review: Fireproof

Fireproof is a very realistic portrayal of marriage when it is suffering. I was very impressed by Kirk Cameron’s acting and the feeling behind each role in this movie. Many times a Christian movie misses the mark…however, in this case the movie was top notch.

Fireproof shows the major marital struggles of Caleb and Catherine. They are so far apart emotionally that all they do is fight and accuse. A little while into the movie Caleb’s dad gives him a book called the “Love Dare.” He makes his son commit to doing it and walks him through when it seemed like it will never work.

Caleb’s character finds the Lord in this movie and it gives him strength to overcome a powerful stronghold in his life and press on to save his marriage.

As you all know, I do not like to give too many details in my reviews, so I will move on to things to watch for with the kiddies…

There is no actual sexual content. However, there are innuendos to Caleb’s pornography issues AND Catherine has a flirtation with a doctor at the hospital she works at. However, nothing develops that would make it off limits.

As far as violence, there are  couple scenes where Caleb and Catherine yell at each other and Caleb screams in her face. He appears to scare her when he does this. There are also a couple of intense fire and rescue type scenes that may scare younger children.

Overall this is an AWESOME movie. I give it a 4 out of 4 stars. I HIGHLY recommend it to all married couples no matter what sate your marriage is in. I also recommend that if you PLAN to get married it would be a great movie to watch. It may prepare you and help you prevent the failings you see in  Caleb and Catherine as individuals.

(Reviewed by: Lara Velez)

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Christian Movie Review: Sahara

Sahara is my teenage daughter’s favorite movie. She loves the humor and of course Matthew McConaughey. LOL! I must say that I like the film a lot as well. It is very funny, thanks mostly to Steve Zahn’s character. Sahara has it all, drama, intrigue, action, romance, comic relief and good prevailing over bad.

Matthew McConaughey’s character, Dirk and his humorous sidekick, Al (played by Steve Zahn) are treasure hunter who are looking for a Civil war ship that somehow made it’s way to the coast of Africa and is said to have Confederate treasure. Through a series of events they meet Eva (Penélope Cruz) and her dilemma leads them to their goal and much more than they thought.

Most of the movie is set in Africa, so we see some Muslim religious activity. However, nothing that would prevent a conservative like me from watching the film.

There are a few negatives the Mother in me must point out…violence is standard in the movie. I mean there is wars going on and bad people wanting to continue doing bad things. There are some scenes of dead people that may scare young viewers. Believe it or not the language is not that bad. There are a few scattering here and there, but surprisingly clean if you ask me.

Over all this is a great movie with no nudity, sex or anything that would make your skin crawl with moral contempt. This is a movie for most of the family and definitely one I would be proud to have on my shelf. I give this movie 4 out of 4 stars.

(Reviewed by: Lara Velez)

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Christian Movie Review: I Am Legend

Let me start by saying that I love Will Smith. I think he makes great movies. Unfortunately, I Am Legend ticked me off more than anything. LOL!

Do not get me wrong, it has action, drama, hero essence and even a little romance. I guess the part that annoyed me was the predictability. I could literally guess what was going to happen and many of the wowzer scenes were not so wow for me…maybe I am having flashbacks from when my Mother used to force me to watch horror films….hmm…

Either way, here are some things you may want to know…

On a positive note there were no major sex or language issues in I Am Legend. However, there is a LOT of violence that may not be suitable for younger viewers. I know it “says” PG-13. However, when my daughter was 13, I would not have let her see it. She was almost 15 and still covered her eyes quite a bit.

As with any Hollywood film, God is non existent or cast in a not so flattering light…except for one scene where the female lead “defends” God to Will’s character. That was positive.

In closing, I Am Legend has some pretty dark moments. However, it is not all bad and for those who like this type of film it leans on the clean side of the spectrum. I give I AM Legend 2 out of 4 stars. Man, I am tough! LOL!

(Reviewed By: Lara Velez)

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Christian Movie Review: Made of Honour

Made of Honour has many flaws. I was very disappointed by the amount of sexual innuendos and lack of a positive marriage view.

The main character, Tom is very popular with the ladies and sleeps around quite a bit. There is a lot of scantily clad women throughout the movie. Tom’s Father enters and ends his SIXTH marriage during the movie.

The language was not as bad as some movies I have seen in this genre. However, there was quite a bit of mouth pollution going on. The s, h, d and b words are said throughout the film as well as several variations of God and Jesus’s name being misused. There are also several crude references made in the movie.

Unfortunately, Patrick Dempsey’s good looks could not bring this movie into my good book. This is just not a good movie for a Christian to be watching. It lacks so much that if there are any positives to say they are lost in the mess. I give this movie a 0 out of 4 stars. Sorry Patrick!

(Reviewed By: Lara Velez)

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Christian Movie Review: WALL-E

WALL-E was a very cute movie that is safe for the whole family. The story is based around the main character, WALL-E.

WALL-E is alone on earth picking up and compacting trash. His only companions are a cockroach and the items that he sifts out of the garbage to add to his large collection.

WALL-E is thrown a curve ball when a pretty and feisty little robot named Eve comes into his boring and predictable life. Eve’s arrival is when the slow starting movie really picks up.

It is amazing how these robots communicate and very little talking goes on in the movie. However, there is some speaking with the human characters. The human factor is the meat of the story. I will leave it at that because I do not like to give the stories away in my reviews!

WALL-E has all the cool stuff that any good movie needs…drama, good v/s evil, lessons learned, bravery and of course a good old fashioned robotic love story!

The only downfall of this movie, in my opinion, is the slow start and lack of talking. It was very difficult for my four year old to sit through. She was not as enthralled with WALL-E as she was with Kung Fu Panda.

All in all WALL-E is a great movie with adorable characters that you are sure to love. I give it 3 out of 4 stars!

(Reviewed by: Lara Velez)

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Christian Movie Review: Hancock

Hancock was a funny movie with not so funny language. The language was really a downer for me. I mean the language was not the worst I ever heard, but it did give the movie a sour note.

The story revolves around three main characters; Will Smith as John Hancock; Jason Bateman as Ray; Charlize Theron as Mar.

Hancock is a man who has no memory of his life before “becoming Hancock.” He is grumpy, rude and a drunk. Then one day he saves, Ray. Ray is a PR guy who wants to pay Hancock back for saving his life by improving his image. When Ray invites Hancock home there is an obvious connection between him and Ray’s wife, Mary. However, I will leave those details out so I do not spoil the movie for you!

There is an awesome twist and some great scenes in the movie. Overall it was pretty good. However, I was dissapointed by the language as I mentioned earlier and that is why you will not want to let your little ones to see it. My teenager liked the movie, but again, she was not impressed by the language.

Speaking of language, let me give you the low down…between a** and a**-Hole you heard those colorful words well over 25 times, a couple F** words, the S** word about 10 times or so, and G*D and Christ once. Too much for a conservative Momma like me…and THANK GOD my teenager was convicted as well!

There were a couple questionable scenes as well…a kid swearing and one man having his head shoved up another mans butt…literally.

Let’s just say that Hancock is no Superman! Funny, yes. A winner…uh, NOT! I give this movie 2 stars out of 4 stars.

(Reviewed by: Lara Velez)

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Christian Movie Review: Journey to the Center of the Earth

Journey to the Center of the Earth was an AWESOME action packed PG film for the entire family. I had the privilege of seeing it in 3D. I had not seen a 3D movie for quite some time I was pleasantly surprised. Note: This movie would be great without the 3D affects.

OK, let me give you the low down…

Trevor is a man who lost his brother (Max) through mysterious events several years ago. He has taken on the task of being an influence in his nephew, Sean’s life for a few days. During this time, they discover what “really” happened to Max.

Through a series of comical and edge of your seat moments Trevor, Sean and their pretty guide, Hannah journey to the center of the earth and back. The story has drama, comedy, action, romance and excitement.

This is a great family movie and I highly recommend it. There is no bad language, drugs, alcohol, or sex. However, there IS some violence and peril that may not be suitable for younger views.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a 4 out of 4 star movie in my book!

(Reviewed By: Lara Velez)

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