Film Reviews by Students

This page is dedicated to film reviews written by the 5th-6th grade students of one of my relatives.

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"Wonka" review by Lucas CK (5th grade - Fall 2024)

Short plot summary:

A man with big dreams of chocolate goes to a town that's all about chocolate.

Characters:

·       Willy Wonka: A man who is a miracle chocolate maker.

·       Noodle: A girl who is Wonka's “buddy.”

·       Mrs. Scrubitt: A lady who is a giant scammer.

·       Bleacher: A man who is also a giant scammer.

·       Willy Wonka’s mother: Also a great chocolate maker.

·       Oompa-Loompa: A tiny man but a big annoyance to Wonka.

·       Slugworth: A popular chocolate factory owner.

·       Prodnose: Another popular chocolate factory owner

·       Fickelgruber: ANOTHER popular chocolate factory owner.

Long plot summary:

So there’s a man named Wonka and he’s a great chocolate maker. (This movie is based off of the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.) He lived with his mom and then he left for this town that's all about chocolate. When he got there he made friends and foes.

Review:

Ultimately, it's a great movie; it could use some touches here and there, but other than that, I think it’s a five star review.

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"The Simpsons" review by Kaylynn (6th grade - Fall 2024)

The Simpsons Movie is a classic. Many people have been watching the television show for a long time. It brought joy to several generations to hear the voice of Homer Simpson eating donuts while working, and how could we forget Abe Simpson’s lectures about the war at the dinner table. The Simpsons are a family filled with smarts and comedy.

The Simpsons Movie, in my opinion, earns a five star rating. It's filled with adventure and thrill; it also shows the struggle to keep healthy relationships going whether it's a relationship with your kids or with your partner. It helps you understand the struggle of life outside and inside home and with your family.

In the end it all works out; Homer Simpson and his family have a better connection. If you have time to put this movie on your screen, do it, and don't forget to watch the television series as well! 

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"Terminator 2" review by Julien N. (5th grade - Fall 2024)

Short summary:  A boy named John is getting hunted and protected by two Terminators.

Characters

• John: A boy who thinks he’s tough.

• Terminator: Has no outside feelings (meaning facial expressions) and doesn’t speak a lot.

• T-1000: Annoying bad guy that speaks twice in the whole movie.

• Sarah: Toughest mom out there but she’s kind of insane.

Short Plot 

A boy named John is raised by foster parents in the Californian suburbs because his dad died and his mom is in a mental hospital. The movie continues with a shootout when the Terminator is protecting John while T-1000 is trying to kill him.

Overall: This is a very good movie, and I would watch it 10,000 times! 10/10!

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"10 Things I Hate About You" review by Rhiett C. (5th grade - Winter 2024)

Characters

Katrina: a girl who “isn’t a normal teenager”

Patrick : a boy who might have some anger issues

Cameron: the person who is crazy in love with Bianca and the dude who makes the dominos fall

Bianca: the sister of Katrina who wishes she (Katrina) were normal

Michael: the guy who tries to put reason into Cameron’s brain

Joey: the guy who’s just a pain but is pretty much used in this movie

Plot

Ten things I hate about you is a comedy based off of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.”

It is about a boy, Cameron (Joeseph Gordon-Levitt) who transfers to a school and while with his guide, Michael (David Krumholtz) is showing him around he sees the most popular, and beautiful girl Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) whom Michael says is part of “the-dont-even-think-about-it group”. He wants to take her to prom but sadly her father (Larry Miller) is very strict and has a rule that she and her sister, Katrina (Julia Stiles) cannot date until she has graduated from highschool. Knowing that his first daughter does not want to date any time soon he decides to make the rules centered off of Katrina. He says that when Katrina dates Bianca can date. Wanting to date Bianca and for her to be able to date him, Cameron tries to find just the right guy for Katrina to date. When he finds someone perfect, Patrick, he has Joey (Andrew Keegan) bribing Patrick (Heath Ledger) into dating Katrina but it soon becomes real….

Overall review

Overall I really enjoyed watching it, and it has become one of my favorite movies. I do think that it is for audiences ages 10 and up.

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"Barbie" review by Ainsley D. (6th grade - Fall 2023)

I went to see the Barbie movie with my mom over the summer. Even though (spoiler alert!) it was about a mother and her daughter, I always felt and still feel like there was a bigger plot alluded to in the story.

I believe the reality of this movie was the difficulties of living as a certain gender’s stereotype. Mainly, this movie focuses on the difficulties as a woman, or the female sex. My evidence?

If we flashback to the scene where Barbie and the mother snap the other Barbies out of their “Ken-dom” trance, the mother makes a fair point about the problems and scenarios that real women have to face daily: things like appearance, relationships, and even how to act ( and I know that women like myself hate being told how to act “lady-like”).

And here’s where we get serious. Plenty of people, female, male, or non-binary, are insecure of their behavior and appearance. So many of us beat ourselves up over things we can’t control, like eye, hair, and skin color.

Worst of all, we take out our anger about ourselves and lash out at other people. We make fun of people’s differences just because we hate our differences and we’re embarrassed of ourselves. In fact, most bullies are who they are because they are embarrassed of themselves, while some are bullies because of problems at home.

The truth is, reality and the way people react to things is mostly unfair, and no matter what we can do or how much power we have, you can’t make someone kind or honorable.

The reason I wrote this review is because the Barbie movie taught me to support people more often. There is no way in the universe that you could know how hard someone has it, so be kind, and be supportive.

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"Legally Blonde" review by Kaylynn D. (5th grade - Fall 2023)

I recommend Legally Blonde to those of you who like watching a Beverly Hills girl who has a major in fashion turn into a hardworking Harvard law student. It teaches you to never underestimate the power of blondes and the color pink even though I hate it. And finally it teaches you not to ruin your gorgeous pink high heels.

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"The Breakfast Club" review by Dylan B. (6th grade - Fall 2023)

Plot: There's a group of high school students who all got detention on a Saturday. They eventually start bonding, and getting along with each other. And at the end of the film each of the students reveal why they got detention.

Characters: There's a jock, a nerd, a princess, a criminal, and a basket case.

The jock (Andrew) was in detention for taping together a nerd's hairy butt, which injured him.

The nerd (Brian) was in detention for using a flare gun in his locker.

The princess (Claire) was in detention for ditching school to go shopping.

The criminal (Bender) was in detention for pulling the fire alarm at school.

And the basket case (Ally) had detention because she had nothing better to do.

Setting: The setting was a high school library, and some of it was set in the school halls/vents. Fun fact, the majority of filming was in an abandoned school called Maine North High School in Des Plaines.

Strengths: The movie is hilarious, the acting is on point, the plot is great, though at times it doesn't make total sense, but none of those parts affect the overall movie review.

Audience: I say you should be 11 years old or older since it's rated [R], but I feel like the rating is only because of some dark humor, adult content, and language.

Rating: My rating is a 9.9/10. This movie is a classic 80s film, some may say it's one of the best movies of all time. You should most definitely go watch it!

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Poster images and film stills courtesy of each reviewed movie's US distributor.