Jack the Giant Slayer
Snitch
MPAA Rating: PG-13 Overall: B Violence: CSexual Content: ALanguage: B+ Alcohol / Drug Use: B+ The MPAA has rated Jack the Giant Slayer PG-13 for intense scenes of fantasy violence, some frightening images and brief language. With moviemakers trying to sell tickets in international markets, it’s getting harder and harder to find someone to play the bad guy. Maybe that explains the resurgence in fairytales. They offer antagonists like ogres, giants and evil stepmothers who aren’t nationality specific. In the case of Jack The Giant Slayer, the enemies are huge (computer animated) giants who are eager to return from exile and exert control over the tiny humans who live on the earth below. Their opportunity comes when Jack (Nicholas Hoult) makes a bad trade in the market after he is sent into town to sell his uncle’s (Christopher Fairbank) horse and cart. The farm boy is easily distracted by the sights and sounds inside the castle walls and before long finds himself defending the honor of a woman he discovers is the princess (Eleanor Tomlinson) in disguise. The intrigue continues when a monk (Simon Lowe) surreptitiously hands Jack a bag of beans and instructs him to take it to the monastery before absconding with the boy’s horse and racing off. When Jack returns home with the pouch of seeds, his uncle is furious and throws them on the floor of their little farmhouse. We all know what happens when beans get wet. But in this adaptation, the runaway princess shows up at Jack’s home just in time to take a wild ride up the sprouting beanstalk. Jack wakes from a stupor the next morning to find himself lying at the base of the vine holding the princess’ bracelet and surrounded by the king’s guard. After discovering his daughter is somewhere in the clouds, King Brahmwell (Ian McShane) orders his officers, Elmont (Ewan McGregor) and Crawe (Eddie Marsan), to mount a rescue mission. And Jack begs to climb the vine with them -- despite his fear of falling. Unlike tamer, child-friendly versions of this tale, Jack the Giant Killer resembles more of a Brothers Grimm telling of the story than a Disney adaptation. However for teens yearning for some Lord of the Rings kind of action, Jack the Giant Slayer may offer just the right amount of spirited adventure without the unnecessary inclusion of other content.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 Overall: AViolence: CSexual Content: ALanguage: C Alcohol / Drug Use: C+ The MPAA has rated Snitch PG-13 for drug content and sequences of violence. If you have kids you’ll find yourself saying, “Don’t do it!” for the first 15 minutes of this movie. Sadly Jason Collins (Rafi Gavron) doesn’t heed that advice when a buddy asks if he can accept for him a package that contains illegal drugs. Upon opening the box Jason is immediately arrested by narcotics agents and faces ten years in prison under minimum sentencing laws. His father, John (Dwayne Johnson), runs a trucking company and is a prominent businessman in their Missouri city. He is determines to find a way to get his son out of jail sooner, especially as the young man has no prior criminal record. However his meeting with the local DA (Susan Sarandon) is akin to hitting a brick wall. The only hope for a reduced sentence is if Jason snitches on another acquaintance and secures a conviction. Refusing to do what his friend did to him, Jason begins his decade of incarceration. Unwilling to accept the situation, and further motivated after seeing his son’s bruised and lacerated face from a prison scuffle, John offers the DA a deal she can’t refuse: He will lead her to a major dealer and in return she will free his son. The problem is this father doesn’t have a clue about how the drug trade operates, let alone knows how to integrate into the system as an undercover informant. For help he turns to Daniel (Jon Berthal), an employee at his company, who was convicted for a similar offense and is now in the midst of putting his life back in order. After John offers him a large cash incentive the ex-con reluctantly accepts and the pair begins the dangerous mission. What this movie does best is putting the audience in a nearly continual state of anxiety while watching this father trying to undo his son’s stupidity. It aptly demonstrates how simply agreeing to participate in a drug exchange can destroy not only one life but also an entire family. Whether this moralistic agenda is the primary focus of Snitch is debatable. The film appears to be critical of minimum sentencing legislation too, and how a young person’s life can be destroyed by a single foolish blunder -- especially after being setup by a friend who is desperate to have a sentence commuted. Yet no matter your opinion, the story is bound to stimulate conversation and provide an opportunity for parents to explain the heady consequences attached to illegal drugs. Marketed as an action film Snitch delivers the goods with excellent performances (this may be Johnson’s best role yet) and an intelligent script with an important message.
What Parents need to know about Jack the Giant Slayer...
Violence: Characters practice dark arts to control the giants. Men are eaten, stabbed, crushed, punched, electrocuted and pushed to their deaths. A pile of human skulls is seen on the ground as well as several dead bodies. Animals are impaled and eaten. A giant succumbs to a lengthy death after being stabbed in the back. The giants attack a castle using burning trees, a huge metal bell and a slingshot as weapons. Numerous characters inside the castle are killed. A character falls into a moat covered with burning oil. Another has his eyeballs squeezed out of his head. A character’s tongue is speared. A plant grows out of a man’s stomach. Sexual Content: A couple kisses. A golden statue with a bare bust is seen in the treasure room. A woman wears a low cut dress in one scene. Language: The script contains a handful of mild cursing and brief crude expressions. Alcohol / Drug Use: A pair of drunken men begins badgering a woman. www.montgomeryparents.com
What Parents need to know about Snitch...
Violence: Violent confrontations involving guns and fists. Characters are punched, beaten, and shot -- sometimes fatally (with some blood shown). Vehicles are driven in a dangerous way on public roads and are deliberately crashed into each other causing accidents that involving other innocent people. A young man, assaulted while in prison, is seen with wounds on his face. Sexual Content: A man is seen without a shirt -- his body covered in tattoos. Language: About two-dozen profanities are used, including scatological curses and terms of deity. Alcohol / Drug Use: The plot is centered on illegal drug use, but drugs are portrayed as a negative choice and serious consequences are included for those who participate in trafficking them. One scene shows a man being forced to sniff a small amount of cocaine from a knife. 108
Montgomery Parents I March 2013