8 and older
“Tomorrowland” (PG): “Tomorrowland” starts out as a fizzy, fun adventure but morphs into a long, confusing clunker, weighed down by its save-the-world message. For age 8 and older who love science and fantasy, the movie still merits a sit-through. But parents can expect some squirming and questions about space-time portals. The story shifts between present day and the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Frank Walker (George Clooney), a grizzled scientist, complains that the world had hope for the future in 1964, but now, with wars and climate change, people expect and accept the worst. Cut to Frank as a little boy who shows his invention to Nix, an expert at the World’s Fair. Athena, the smart little girl at Nix’s side, encourages Frank to follow them on Disney’s “It’s a Small World” ride and through a portal into a “real” Tomorrowland (inspired by Disneyland in California). Cut to the present. Casey, brainy daughter of a NASA engineer, finds a vintage Tomorrowland pin. When she touches it, she’s transported there. The older Frank, Casey and Athena slam into the future together. (130 minutes)
THE BOTTOM LINE: The dialogue includes rare mild profanity. Robotic enforcers use a ray gun that vaporizes humans, but it’s not gory. The flying and destruction in the third act could unsettle the littlest moviegoers, especially in the big Imax format.
PG-13
“Aloha”: Even gifted stars cannot unscramble the mess that is “Aloha.” Although it’s acceptable for teens, this whimsical dramedy from writer/director Cameron Crowe (“Almost Famous,” “Jerry Maguire”) could bore them, despite the presence of Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone. Crowe has set his tale on a military base in Hawaii and tried awkwardly to deal with failed relationships, new relationships, the rights of native Hawaiians and the growing use of private military contractors. Brian Gilcrest (Cooper) is a contractor who disgraced himself on a covert op in Afghanistan. He has come to Hawaii for a new assignment that may restore his reputation: He must persuade a native Hawaiian king and his people to bless a new military project near their land, and he must facilitate the launch of a satellite built by a billionaire (Bill Murray). Brian also encounters his ex-girlfriend (Rachel McAdams), her husband (John Krasinski) and kids, and an Air Force officer (Stone) whose gung-ho style hides a romantic love of Hawaiian myth. (105 minutes)
THE BOTTOM LINE: It’s strongly implied that Stone’s and Cooper’s characters spend the night together, but nothing other than kissing and day-after cuddling in bed is shown. The script includes occasional mild profanity and some sexual innuendo.
“San Andreas”: The digital effects in this epic are impressive and disturbingly credible, even if the central human story never rises above disaster-movie cliche. Teens may get a charge out of watching California experience the long-dreaded Big One, in which the San Andreas Fault snaps to and punches out a series of 9-plus earthquakes along the length of the state. But teens and younger kids who live in earthquake-prone areas may find too much nightmare fodder here. Dwayne Johnson plays Ray, a big-shouldered, chopper-flying rescue guy with the Los Angeles Fire Department. Once the quakes start, Ray takes to his chopper and goes to save his ex-wife in Los Angeles and his daughter in San Francisco from collapsed buildings. While cities implode, Ray and his loved ones try to stay alive, rescuing a few nameless folks along the way, but mainly it’s a family thing. His daughter meets a nice Brit and his cute kid brother. And Paul Giamatti adds gravitas as a Cal Tech seismologist who first sees a quake demolish the Hoover Dam and then warns people to evacuate coastal cities. (114 minutes)
THE BOTTOM LINE: The skylines of Los Angeles and San Francisco crumble and cars and trucks fall off highways and bridges, but the film rarely shows a graphic injury. Recurring themes about grief over a drowned child and Ray’s and Emma’s divorce carry more emotional weight than the implicit deaths of hundreds of thousands. There is rare profanity and one use of the F-word.
“Poltergeist”: More predictable than scary, this ramshackle remake of the 1982 hit earns its PG-13 rating and rarely pushes the envelope beyond that. So it’s fine for most teens but may be a little too shivery for some middle-schoolers. Then again, lots of kids love to be scared, and for them this “Poltergeist” will do the job at regular intervals, like a fun-house ride. Though cast with fine actors and directed by Gil Kenan, who made the nifty animated horror comedy “Monster House,” this update doesn’t totally work. Bad things happen right away, with no chance to savor normalcy. Eric (Sam Rockwell) has lost his job. He and his wife, Amy (Rosemarie DeWitt), and three kids have downsized to an unpleasant new home. Their only son, a sensitive, fearful child, sees his little sister talking to invisible “friends” who turn out to be quite real and cranky. They snatch the little girl. Time to call in the paranormal experts. (93 minutes)
THE BOTTOM LINE: Spoiler alert! There are scary and gross moments but little gore. The angry spirits can take the form of decaying, skeletal corpses, grabbing at the children. They cause living characters to hallucinate things such as vomiting worms. The S-word and barnyard profanity get occasional use. A comical but steamy marital sexual situation gets interrupted.
Jane Horwitz has been reviewing movies for Washington-area media outlets including The Washington Post and WETA public television since 1988. The Family Filmgoer column offers weekly movie reviews with a focus on family, an invaluable tool for parents planning trips to the theater.