pensman

As a family movie, you would have to really search to find something offensive. The basic plot is simple: boy finds robot, boy becomes friends with a robot, boy lo. . .; almost gave it away.

The actors seem age appropriate and a sequel wouldn't be out of order, except now everyone has aged out of their roles. The film is a little slow and I suspect the budget wasn't there for continuous special effects. Films in this genre, like Bumble Bee or Flight of the Navigator or Zathura, rely on special effects to keep kids from getting antsy. Unfortunately, F. R. E. D. I. Didn't seem to have the cash necessary to make really good effects. Plus, the actors don't have the emotional connectiveness to pull the viewer in and relate to the characters. I guess that in part stopped a sequel.

Still, if you have a night to gather together and have some popcorn while viewing family-friendly movies, then you might sneak this one in. But for the money, I recommend Zathura: Zorgons are cool.

I am surprised Patterson has anything to do with this mess. One would think that Patterson has enough money and that after reading a script or two, he would walk away from this mess. I can't decide if. Aldis Hodge is miscast or.doesn't like Alex Cross. Morgan Freeman set the mold for the character in. Kiss the Girls and in Along Came a Spider. Then Tyler Perry did his worst to destroy Cross. And now Hodge is everywhere and no where with his Alex Cross.

Hodge can't carry all the blame, there are several writers who helped fashion the character and the story line. This Cross seems to be preoccupied with chasing down his romantic interest and apologizing to his kids. And his kids seem woefully unprepared to deal with the real world. Wouldn't Cross teach his kids at minimum not to speak to strangers?

And Ryan. Eggold's character is so obviously slimely, I can't believe any woman would trust him.

Watch if you must but you have been warned..

Not the worst movie, but milks stereotypes of Africans and African-Americans with one or two surprises. The copy I saw on YouTube was so grainy, I did not recognize Arthur O'Connell.

The plot was actually pretty good, but I imagine the film played third after the A movie and first B movie. When I was young it wasn't unusual to go out for a night at the movies. This meant a reel of modern news events, a travelogue, at least one cartoon, and then the A movie followed by one other two B films. And sometimes the B movie turned out to become the real hit of the venue. Think Lilies of the Field with Sidney Poitier as an example.

Law of the Jungle is not a super B movie but it has its moments. The best is the meeting between Mantan Moreland and Laurence Criner aka Chief Mojobo who is not only the chief of the warrior tribe that captured the three leads, but is a lodge brother of Jeff Jones (Morland). To say more might give away an important plot point.