I’m sitting in a m
ovie theater with my three year old, at 7pm on a Wednesday, to see a movie rated PG. You may be thinking I’m crazy, but in reality I’m just another stay at home mom, trying to share a treat with my daughter, while saving a buck.
I scored a couple of free screening passes while at the library the other day, and since I hadn’t completely decided whether I wanted to risk the cost of two matinee tickets on this particular movie, I thought this was a perfect solution. Sure, the time is later than desirable for taking a three-year-old to the movies, but I know from those long nights when Daddy’s away and Nick Jr is on the TV in my bedroom, this girl can hang as long as she wants -when she is interested.
Her level of interest is my primary concern here, not even the PG rating. If this movie doesn’t intrigue her, we will battle to stay even 20 minutes, no matter what time the show is. So when presented with complimentary passes, I jumped on the chance.
Concerning the PG rating, I knew, like pretty much all fairy tale movies, there will be a witch, some magic, maybe a monster and even death. My daughter is (annoyingly) into all things Princess right now, so we’ve had some foray into witches and even death, but we keep our explanations simple, and non graphic. Thankfully, when these things come up in movies she doesn’t seemed bothered.
Still, I wasn’t sure how the actual movie might portray certain events, so we had a discussion before leaving the house that if there were any parts of the movie she didn’t like, just to tell me and I would cover her eyes. She said SHE would cover her eyes.
I would like to note here that I specifically say “don’t like” in these situations. I never EVER use the word “SCARED” before something occurs, as I feel this is just setting a child up. In fact, if you have been around me much, you know I don’t have too many rules at all, but saying anything to the affect of “I’m Scared,” or “Are you scared?” is simply not allowed at my house. Everyone is allowed their fair share of “not liking;” I just don’t feel that scared is necessary. Around here we save the rules for stuff that really matters. 😉
But back to the movie review… Overall, cute movie. Would I have paid really money to see it? Not sure. Maybe if we were regular movie goers, but for a once a month or less treat, I think The Lorax would have been a better choice for her. The movie contained a lot of humor, which she may or may not have understood, but still seemed to understand that these moments were meant for laughing.
About halfway through the movie she did ask to potty and then to leave, and I agreed the action had started to lull. As an adult, I knew the big scenes were moments away, but for a child, I think it just got too word-y. If you are paying to see this movie, I say, hold off on your popcorn until about an hour in, then take a trip out to the lobby for some grub.
Now to the “Scary” parts. I thought these scenes were INCREDIBLE. I mean it. Instead of a “monster,” there was a Beast. We all get it, but monster has a certain connotation that I thought was brilliantly avoided. And the Beast himself, oh he was creepy. But the scenes the Beast appeared in were a perfect blend of suspense and imagination. When the Beast was shown full-on, and bigger than life size, the expressions on the face of the beast were easily distinguishable as, shall we say… misunderstood. And not to give anything away, but in the end, the audience was clear that perhaps a Beast is not to be feared after all.
The verdict from a three year old? “Daddy, the witch was soooo funny.” Now for the Go/No-Go decision? Well, it’s Springtime and a beautiful one at that, and while the movie is cute, I definitely wouldn’t call it a classic. If it’s raining out and your child is on the mature-side of three+, into fairy tales, AND can sit through over 1.5 hours of movie, I say go for it. If you don’t meet all of those criteria, I’d spend my popcorn money at TCBY, and my two hours at the playground.
Either way, enjoy your weekend!
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