Smurfs: The Lost Village

DIRECTOR:  Kelly Asburi  VOICE CAST: Demi Lovato, Joe Manganiello, Jack McBrayer, Danny Pudi, Mandy Patinkin, Rainn Wilson  SCREENWRITER: Stacey Harman & Pamela Ribon  PRODUCER: Mary Ellen Bauder, Raja Gosnell, Jordan Kerner & Ben Waisbren  EDITOR: Bret Marnell  MUSICAL DIRECTOR:  Christopher Lennertz  GENRE: Fantasy/Adventure/comedy  DISTRIBUTOR: Sony Pictures  LOCATION: USA  RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes

Technical assessment: 3

Moral Assessment: 3

CINEMA Rating: V13

MTRCB Rating: GA

The film starts with Papa Smurf (Mandy Patinkin), the fatherly and protective leader,  describing the Smurf Village as a caring, happy and peaceful community of extremely small creatures. Among them are Clumsy (Jack McBrayer), Brainy (Danny Pudi), and Hefty (Joe Manganiello).  The only girl Smurfette (Demi Lovato) is not a real Smurf, but a creation of Gargamel (Rainn Wilson), a vicious human magician who wants to capture all the Smurfs and take their essence to become the most powerful wizard.  Instead of spying on the Smurfs, Smurfette is transformed by Papa Smurf to be one of them.  She will soon be joined by Clumsy, Brainy and Hefty on a mission to find the Lost Village and to warn them against Gargamel. The problem is, Gargamel’s bird and cat friends see the Smurf quartet, thus this villain moves to beat them to the Lost Village.

Smurfs: The Lost Village, the third offering of the animation film series, focuses on the character of Smurfette. Despite the twist, the plot is predictable and some of the scenes are recurring and can be boring.  The movie tries to highlight woman power through a character capable of calling the shots, conscientisizing, and bravely engaging in heroic acts. The computerized production design is no better than other animated films, but some impressive visual effects help up things a bit, like the entertaining multi-function Bee-machine. Voicing is likewise good, dialogues are meaningfully delivered thus easily defining the good and the bad characters. The musical score, sounds, and lighting are fine and somehow contribute as the saving grace of a mediocre storyline.

The search for self-identity can be a meaningful journey if you choose it to be so. While others’ sensitivity and acceptance of what you are going through are instrumental to your success, more important is your acceptance of your very own existence—you must have the awareness and proper motivation to do what you can for yourself and for others. Smurfs: The Lost Village is a very positive film that highlights the successful search for self-worth as the main theme and the triumph of good over evil as a sub-theme.  In the course of fighting evil the qualities of kindness, strength, sacrifices, and prayers prevail.  Greed has no place if there is unity, truth and determination. The film may be intended for child viewers, but there are messages that need guidance of adults to explain. An example is the scene when Smurfette pretends to submit to the reprimands of Papa Smurf but obviously deceives the elder together with fellow violators.  Woman power is another sub-theme of the film but considering the origin of Smurfette, an adult companion may explain to young viewers that regardless of characterization, women’s capabilities depicted in the film reflect real life situations.

Northern Lights

DIRECTOR:    DONDON S. SANTOS  LEAD CAST:   PIOLO PASCUAL, YEN SANTOS, RAIKKO MATEO  SCREENWRITER: ONAY SALES  PRODUCER:  MANNY A. VALERA  EDITOR:  CHRISEL DESUASIDO  MUSICAL DIRECTOR:  FRANCIS CONCIO  GENRE:  ROMANCE, DRAMA  CINEMATOGRAPHER:  ZACH SYCIP  DISTRIBUTOR: STAR CINEMA  LOCATION:  ALASKA, NEW ZEALAND  RUNNING TIME:   100 MINS.

Technical assessment: 3

Moral assessment: 3

CINEMA rating: V14

MTRCB rating: PG

Matagal nang naninirahan si Charlie (Piolo Pascual) sa Alaska. Naiwan niya sa Pilipinas ang kanyang anak na Charlie (Raikko Matteo) rin ang pangalan, at matagal nang hindi niya ito nakikita. Sabik ang bata na makapunta na sa Alaska para makilala ang ama at excited din itong masaksahan ang northern lights sa Alaska. Laking gulat ni Charlie nang malaman na magbabakasyon mag-isa ang anak sa Alaska. Sa kanilang pagkikita, alangan si Charlie sa anak. Hindi nito alam kung paano ito patutunguhan at umiiwas din ito sa mga tanong ng anak lalo’t patungkol sa dahilan kung bakit sila nagkalayo.  Malayo ang damdamin ni Charlie sa anak at mas interesado pa ito sa kanilang bisita na si Angel (Yen Santos) na nagkataong nakasakay ng batang Charlie sa eroplano. Ngunit hindi rin pala bakasyon ang pakay ni Angel. Tulad ng batang Charlie, mayroon din siyang hinahanap.

Kung tutuusin ay napakasimple naman ng buod ng kuwento ng Northern Lights: A Journey to Love—tungkol ito sa mag-aama at mag-iinang nagkalayo at kapwa mga naghahanap ng kasagutan sa mga naiwang puwang sa kanilang puso. Pinakamaganda at pinakamabigat sana kung nanatili sa batang Charlie ang sentro ng kuwento at punto de bista—nasa kanya naman talaga ang bigat ng kuwento. Bagama’t nabigyan ito ng mga maningning na sandal, nalihis pa rin ang pelikula nang mapunta ang kuwento sa pag-iibigan ng matandang Charlie at Angel—bagay na pinilit isingit para lamang lagyan ito ng romansa.  Sayang, sapagkat isteryotipikal na romansa rin ito, samantalang mas mabigat ang mga binitawang tema ng pelikula tungkol sa pamilya, mga Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW), single parents, atbp.  Mahusay pa rin si Pascual bagama’t hindi gaanong bagay ang kabuuan ng karakter sa kanya. Isa namang rebelasyon si Matteo. Si Santos ay may mga mannerisms pa lalo na sa pagbibitaw ng linya—kulang sa pagka-natural. Kamangha-mangha naman ang napili nilang kalugaran at na-maximize naman nila ito ng husto maging ang metaporya ng northern lights. Sa kabuuan namaý masaya pa ring panoorin ang pelikula dahil may mga sandali itong talaga namang pupukaw sa damdamin ng manonood. Mahalaga ang mensahe ng Northern Lights: A Journey To Love patungkol sa pamilya. Tunay na nag-iiwan ng maraming puwang ang pagkawala ng ina man o ama sa pamilya. Sa hiwalayan ng mga mag-asawa, unang naaapektuhan ang mga bata. Kaya’t sa anumang sitwasyon, mahalaga na laging isaalang-alang ang kapakanan ng mga bata—dahil maari nilang pasanin hanggang sa kanilang paglaki ang poot at sakit ng pag-iwan ng kanilang magulang. Binigyang diin din ng pelikula ang kahalagahan ng pagmamahal at pagpapatawad na kaakibat nito. Dahil kapag poot at galit ang pinairal sa puso, wala itong ibubungang maganda. Sa bandang huli, sinasabi ng pelikula na wala sa lugar o panahon ang pagmamahal—lagi itong mahalaga at maipapamalas saan mang sulok ng daigdig. May mga eksena nga lang sa pelikula na sadyang di angkop sa mga bata—at hindi rin maganda ang mensahe nito ukol sa sekswal na relasyon ng dalawang taong hindi pa naman kasal. Isang malaking kasayangan din ito dahil maganda na sana at malinis ang mensahe ng pelikula kung hindi hinaluan ng eksenang kagaya nito. Kung kaya’t ang pelikula sa ganang CINEMA ay nararapat lamang sa mga manonood edad 14 pataas.

Chips

DIRECTOR: Dax Shepard  STARRING: Dax Shepard, Michael Peňa, Vincent D’Onofrio, Adam Brody, Rosa Salazar, Vida Guerra, Kristen Bell  PRODUCER: Ravi D. Mehta, Dax Shepard, Andrew Panay, Rick Rosner  SCREENWRITER: Theodore Melfi, Allison Schroeder  BASED ON: Chips by Rick Rosner  MUSIC: Fil Eisler  CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mitchell Amundsen  EDITOR: Dan Lebental  GENRE:  Action Comedy  PRODUCTION COMPANY: Primate Pictures, Panay Films, RatPac-Dune Entertainment  DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. Pictures  COUNTRY:  United States  LANGUAGE: English  RUNNING TIME: 101 minutes

Technical assessment:  3

Moral assessment:  2

CINEMA rating:  V18

MTRCB rating:  R16
A former biker, Jon Baker (Dax Shepard) and an FBI undercover agent, Frank "Ponch" Poncherello, joins the California Highway Patrol for different reasons. Jon aims to make things right in his life especially his marriage while Ponch is investigating on an anomaly inside the CHP. As they both try to focus on their goals, they clash rather than unite when they were partnered for duty and to catch the bad guys.  The Catholic News Service of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops classifies Chips as “O”, morally offensive.  Topics for discussion include failed marriages, Highway Patrol, second chances, sex addiction, friendship, perseverance at work, homosexuality, homophobia, masturbation, sex-objectification of women, etc.

Life

DIRECTOR:  Daniel Espinosa.  CAST:  Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, Olga Dihovichnaya  SCRIPTWRITER:  Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick  PRODUCER:  Bonnie Curtis, Julie Lynn  MUSIC:  Jon Ekstrand  CINEMATOGRAPHY:  Seamus McGarvey  EDITOR:  Frances Parker, MaryJo Markey

PRODUCER:  David Ellison, Dana Goldberg  DISTRIBUTOR:  Columbia Pictures COUNTRY:  USA  GENRE: SciFi, suspense  RUNNING TIME:   103 minutes

Technical assessment:  3

Moral assessment:  3

CINEMA rating:  V14

MTRCB rating:  R13

Aboard an International Space Station, a six-member team tasked to retrieve an unmanned space capsule carrying soil sample from Mars. The team’s biologist, Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare) successfully revives the dormant organism, later named “Calvin” by schoolchildren on Earth.  While jubilant that they are in possession of the first proof of extra-terrestrial life, the astronauts implement a safety protocol to ensure that the experiment is contained in the spacecraft’s laboratory.  Calvin grows amazingly fast from single to multi-celled organism, turns hostile, and fatally attacks four of the crew members, starting with Derry followed by American systems engineer Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds),  Russian commander Katerina Golovkina (Olga Dihovichnaya), and Japanese space pilot Sho Murakami (Hiroyuki Sanada).  The remaining crew members, British quarantine officer Dr. Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson) and American senior medical officer Dr. David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), separately take two emergency escape pods—one to take Calvin to deep space away from Earth, the other one to return to Earth and report the fate of the mission. 

The opening scene takes the viewer to a dizzying upside-down zoom of the space station. While all too familiar, the shots nevertheless are meticulously rendered and the camera succeeds in giving the viewer a feel of life in space.  Although editing and cinematography are good, the music tends to distract.  The actors struggle with poor script that make them—especially Bakare, Dihovichnaya, and Sanada—sound like they are reading their lines straight from a scientific journal.  Character development, however, is sufficient as a palette for when complications escalate in the story that has Calvin as the star outsmarting the human experts.  Director Espinosa takes care not to let Life become another guess-who-dies-next thriller by maintaining a sober tone and presenting capable characters who problem-solve at the skill level demanded by their profession.  The suspense aspect succeeds in giving thrills to the viewer, with the final sequence sealing Life as a dark, intense, and ominous film.  

There is only one Creator of life—God, and not even the most highly educated human scientists.  Scientific research should be carried out from God’s gifts of knowledge, talent and skills to mankind.   Life delves into the broader theme of bioethics, demonstrating how man uses biology and medicine to create new life. The intent of the mission’s team is noble: to test, to culture, and possibly to evolve an organism that may someday help mankind.   In the film, nature destined the organism from Mars to remain dormant in space, but man interfered and changed the ecosystem.  Hence the destruction. The film does not prevaricate in showing the destructive side of the issue, and for that it is commendable.  Commendable, too, is the willingness of the members of the space mission to sacrifice their lives to contain the alien life form in space and keep it from invading earth.

Power Rangers

DIRECTOR: Dean Israelite  LEAD CAST: Elizabeth Banks, Bryan Cranston, Dacre Montgomery, RJ Cyler, Naomi Scott, Ludi Lin, Becky G.  SCREENWRITER: John Gatins  PRODUCER: Haim Saban, Brian Casentini, Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey  EDITORS: Martin Bernfeld, Dody Dorn  MUSICAL DIRECTOR:  Bryan Tyler  GENRE: Action/Adventure  CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Matthew Lloyd  DISTRIBUTOR: Lionsgate  LOCATION: USA  RUNNING TIME: 123 minutes

Technical assessment:  3

Moral assessment:  3.5

CINEMA rating:  V13 (Viewers 13 and below with parental guidance)

MTRCB:  GP

Five high schoolers in Angel Grove, California find themselves drawn to an abandoned gold mine: jock Jason  (Dacre Montgomery), who is at odds with his father; Billy (RJ Cyler), a nerd who happens to be black; Kimberly (Naomi Scott), an ostracized cheerleader; Trini (Becky G), who has communication issues; and Zack (Ludi Lin), outwardly cocky but is a devoted son.  They find and come to own five colored stones which they discover soon give them incredible physical strength.  They decide to go back to the mine where they disover further superhuman abilities.  Exploring the area leads them to an underground spaceship where they meet Alpha 5, a talking robot (voiced by Bill Hader) who introduces them as to Zardon (Bryan Cranston), mentor of the Power Rangers.  They are told they are the “chosen ones”—the Power Rangers whose mission is to save the planet from a 65-million year old “fallen” Power Ranger Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks).   

Power Rangers’ most valuable asset is its simple plot.  While the candy-colored superhero outfits are slick, the CGIs are not really that impressive; other superhero movies have offered bigger spectacles and more earth-shattering battle scenes.  However, the movie shows sincere effort to blend teen drama and superhero mythos that is cohesive enough to advance the narrative, resulting in an entertaining, relatable presentation. That the five protagonists are relatively unknown helps to heighten the credibility of their roles.    Banks is topnotch as Rita Repulsa the repulsive villain (as her name implies)—a bit hammy but effective, and qualifies her to play against the Joker in some foreseeable future.

There are two outstanding lessons taught in the movie.  The five teenagers chosen to become the Power Rangers are each a misfit or a social outcast.  Burdened with their individual angst, and coming from different racial backgrounds, it is obvious that these “teenagers with attitude” compose a mismatched team.  But they are warned that they cannot morph into Power Rangers unless they first learn to be a team—only in harmony with one another can they succeed in their mission of saving Earth.  This underscores the need to selflessly focus on a goal bigger than oneself if one must make a difference in the world.  They are also repeatedly reminded to be humble, to “live humbly” among ordinary mortals, and not to flaunt their powers—an advice which they take to heart until they mature from the high school kids wildly trying their new-found abilities into the real heroes gaining depth and wielding their powers with grace and anonymity.

Beauty and the Beast

Direction: Bill Condon;  Cast: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Ewan McGregor, Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci; Story: based on Disney and Jeanne-Maria Leprince de Mount Beauty and the Beast; Screenplay: Stephen Chbosky, Evan Spoliotopoulos; Cinematography: Todias Schiessler; Producer: David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman; Music: Alen Menken; Genre: Fantasy/Musical; Distributor: Walt Disney Motion Picture; Location: France  Running Time: 129 minutes;

Technical assessment :  3.5

Moral assessment : 4

MTRCB rating : G

Cinema rating : VA (Viewers of all ages)

During the 18th century France, a self-absorbed Prince (Stevens) is cursed and transformed into a hideous Beast after he turns away an enchantress disguised as a beggar looking for shelter. The rest of the castle’s household are transformed into objects and their existence is erased from the mind of the villagers. The enchantress gives Beast a rose and tells him that the curse will remain unless he learns to love and earns the other person’s love in return before the last petal falls. Meanwhile, Belle (Watson), a young free spirited lady who loves books and adores her father is laughed at by the entire village for her strangeness. One night, Maurice (Kline), Belle’s equally eccentric father, is captured and imprisoned by Beast for trying to steal a rose in his garden. Belle travels to the castle and frees Maurice in exchange for herself. In the process, Belle and the Beast discover each other’s real self and eventually fall in love. But Gaston (Evans), a vain soldier who will stop at nothing so he can marry Belle, stands in the way as a threat to their love and life.

Beauty and the Beast has an important factor playing both for and against it. It precedes a successfully popular animated version. Automatically, there is a captive audience familiar with the set up and music on the one hand and an outstanding version quite hard to forget and match. Production-wise, the live version is impeccable. Every last detail is either a charming replica of the animation bringing memories for the older generation and enchantment to the first time viewers. The music is familiar and enhanced with the modern interpretation and some new inspired songs. Evan’s Gaston is iconic and made memorable with his performance. Kline’s Maurice is a thoughtful and honest. We cannot same the same with Watson’s Belle and the CGI’d Beast. They just feel flat and sluggish in delivering their lines and belting the songs amidst the textures of the production. The single expression on Watson makes her a weak heroine. (Also there is too much Hermoine in her). The choreographies are unexciting as well. While the movie is indeed faithful to the animated version, it feels a little too faithful offering nothing new except it is no longer animated. Nonetheless, it still is a must-see film that transitions literature into animation and live action.

The movie celebrates individuality and acceptance. Belle, Maurice, Agatha (the enchantress) and Beast are misfits. But then, when we come to know their hearts and see them for the persons they really are, we realize that being different is not a liability. The movie also shows us that acceptance cannot come from others unless we transcend our struggles to accept and become comfortable with who we are. People sadly tend to prefer to see our flaws and weaknesses and belittle our potential to be great. If we rely on their impressions, we will be left depressed and desperate to fill that void by being self-absorb and vain—as Gaston is and as the Prince was. Real beauty is not skin deep but radiates from a heart that knows how to love, forgive and be unselfish.

Get out

DIRECTOR:  Jordan Peele  LEAD CAST:  Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford  SCREENWRITER: Jordan Peele  PRODUCER: Jason Blum, Edward Hamm Jr., Sean McKittrick & Jordan Peele  EDITOR: Gregory Plotkin  MUSICAL DIRECTOR:  Michael Abels  GENRE: Horror  CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Toby Oliver  DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures  LOCATION: Alabama, USA  RUNNING TIME: 104 mins.

Technical assessment:  4

Moral assessment:  3

CINEMA rating:  A14

MTRCB Rating:  R13

Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) packs his bags for a weekend break upon the invitation of his girlfriend, Rose. He is meeting her parents for the first time. Chris becomes upset upon learning that Rose fails to mention to her parents that he is black. The latter explains that her parents are not closed-minded, and surely are not racists and that made him less anxious.  Sure-enough, both parents welcome Chris with atypical warmth, but Chris gets a creepy feeling as he notices the freakish behaviors of their black household helpers Georgina and Walter.  His apprehension builds up some more with the suspicious behaviors of everybody in the house except Rose.  Are his suspicions valid or are they just a byproduct of the fear of racial discrimination which he still encounters every day of his life?

Get Out is an intelligent and modern take on racial discrimination in America which many thought and believed, has already been addressed accordingly.  The director is able to work around the theme well with the genre.  The filming is solid and storyline is focused.  Daniel Kaluuya excels in the film—his facial expression and emotion speaks of appropriate fears absent in the dialogue.  He is the kind of protagonist that audiences would really care deeply about.  The entire ensemble of actors delivers perfectly well.  As the audience is entertained with the thrills inherent to the genre, they are also taken into a world where one may ponder basic questions on humanity.  It’s quite rare nowadays to see a film that would elicit such profoundness in the seemingly mundane details of daily human existence.  What is even remarkable is that though the film tackles racial violence—it manages not to wallow in excessive violence.  The film leaves a lingering feeling of disgust, guilt, fear and vindication.  For sure, one will never take racial discrimination for granted again after seeing this film.

Get Out speaks of how far and low humans would go just to maintain the status quo.  The root of racial discrimination is deeply embedded in the tenets of human civilization and has not really been eradicated yet even if the United States has already had an African-American president—and even when there are already internationally-recognized black high-achievers.  Many African-Americans still fear being discriminated against. The hate is still real. The violence is real.  The film even transcends the resistance and dialogue even more in the treatment of the black’s superior qualities—of bodily strength, uniqueness of color, etc. as object of envy and a cause of their doom rather than salvation.  The character of Chris shows that love makes all humans equal regardless of race or origin.  Superiority is only a product of illusion—of lies told over the years and accepted as truth.  Another lie which humans have the tendency to believe is that they are equal with God and therefore can also create and re-create and manipulate human life on whim. Using science and human intelligence as shown in Get Out, where humans are motivated by greed and pride, is evil.  In the end, though, good triumphs over evil—a proof that God saves the righteous—and He does not look at the color of one’s skin as He created men equal, very different from one another for a reason, but equal.  For humans, that may be far-fetched, but for God, it has always been that way. For its mature theme, and for graphic scenes of gore and violence in the film, although in context, CINEMA deems Get Out as appropriate only for audiences aged 14 and above.

Kong: Skull Island

DIRECTOR: Jordan Vogt-Roberts  STARRING: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Jing Tian, Toby Kebbell, John Ortiz, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Shea Whigham, Thomas Mann, Terry Notary, John C. Reilly  PRODUCER: Thomas Tull, John Jashni, Mary Parent, Alex Garcia  SCREENWRITER: Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly

BASED ON: King Kong by Merian C. Cooper  MUSIC: Henry Jackman  CINEMATOGRAPHER: Larry Fong  EDITOR: Richard Pearson  GENRE:  Sci-Fi  PRODUCTION COMPANY: Legendary Pictures, Tencent Pictures  DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. Pictures  COUNTRY:  United States  LANGUAGE: English  RUNNING TIME: 118 minutes

Technical assessment:  4

Moral assessment:  3

CINEMAQ rating:  V14

In 1973, the US sends a team to an uncharted island in the South Pacific—that is perpetually enveloped in clouds and is recently discovered by satellite—to see if the island is inhabited.  British agent James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston), a former Special Air Services captain, is hired to be chief hunter-tracker, while Lt. Col. Preston Packard (Samuel Jackson), heads the military’s helicopter squadron, the Sky Devils, to chopper the team to Skull Island.  The only woman in this team of soldiers and scientists is an anti-war Life photographer, Mason Weaver (Brie Larson), who suspects the mission is a military operation hiding a dark agenda.  Scattered and scampering for safety after their choppers are crushed like toy drones by a 100-foot tall bipedal ape, some team members encounter stranded American pilot Hank Marlow (John C. Reilly), and get to come up close and personal with Kong.

Kong: Skull Island opens with two WWII fighter pilots engaged in hand combat; as one is about to kill the other, a giant ape appears, interrupting the fight and making the combatants flee for dear life.  This prologue is essential to the plot’s unfolding.  If you expect the story to be about an oversized simian getting infatuated with a beautiful human female, you’ll be disappointed.  Kong here is a celibate loner, the last of his kind, is revered by the island’s human population as god and king, and picks only on enemies his size.  The film’s CGI, especially the ones with Kong fighting the alpha Skullcrawler and the monstrous octopus, combined with a humane story and a dash of humor should make entranced audiences feel how 118 minutes fly so swiftly.      

Kong: Skull Island is really about the beauty of the beast.  It may be fiction, meant to entertain us, but the movie teases the imagination and offers many points worthy of discussion.  For one, there is something poignant about a formidable ape—who’s two and a half times as tall as Luneta’s Rizal Monument—protecting the environment and a lost human tribe from giant predators.  Are simians supposed to be that intelligent and compassionate that they could put to shame military characters who out of smugness would mindlessly destroy the life and beauty in an unknown territory? Another is destructive human aggressiveness: consider the bombing of Skull Island and ask why humans make such powerful, destructive weaponry—is it just out of self-preservation and national defense, or out of a lust to conquer territories ahead of a rival world power?  Which is more frightening, man-made violence or the wrath of nature provoked?  CINEMA cautions elders (who may be intending to watch a DVD copy of the movie at home) to keep children out of the viwing area.  Grisly deaths and multiple dangers facing characters in the movie might prove too scary, even traumatic, for them.