Kids Films: Comparative Reviews: Puss in Boots, We Bought a Zoo, Happy Feet 2

1. Puss In Boots: Husby laughed a lot. Lots of wisecracks, but the Shrek folk have kind of gone off the boil for me. On the other hand, Kid A loved it, especially Selma Hayek's character Kitty Soft Paws. I dunno; harmless enough. 6.5/10

2. We Bought a Zoo: This film was majorly improved for me because we watched it at the OpenAir cinema down at the campground at Tidal River, Wilsons Promontory, and the kids fell asleep in beanbags in the first 15 minutes, leaving us to relax. Extraordinarily predictable plot with absolutely NO twists or turns is salvaged by a decent performance by Matt Damon, and by sensitive treatment of its theme of family grief after the death of a parent/partner. It's based on a true story, but irritatingly Hollywood has rewritten the film as based in the USA rather than in the UK (where the story belongs), and they've stuck Scarlett Johanssen in because she's hot. My favourite part of this show was staring up at the stars at the Promontory, and laughing at the prowling wombats who tend to wander through the cinema after dark :) 7/10 for the movie, 10/10 for the cinema.ps: tempted to give the film an additional half point for having REAL PEOPLE AND ANIMALS in it, rather than animation. so, 7.5/10

2. Happy Feet 2: Back to the cinema yet again today. Temperatures over 40 degrees always leave us looking for an excuse to get orf the mountain for a while. Orright. More singing dancing penguins. Would be scary in 3D for me- lots of crashing icebergs, huge waves and huge weather. Subtly introduces the big theme of climate change. What would these films have been like if they'd only cast Australians? 7/10