dentrex

25 May 2012

Delightful

I haven't seen a film like this in ages, I can't even compare it toanother. Fun for the kids and adults too. A kid starts middle school,making the transition from grade school and this film nicely deals withthat chapter in a kid's life. The "cool" older brother who lives toantagonize you, the "yukky" baby brother who embarrasses you, the nerdyfriend who makes you look bad, they're all there. Who can NOT relate?The direction is perfect, the film is paced properly and exactly. Some really fantastic performances from these child actors and astoryline everyone can relate to. No foul language or sexualsituations... wow! We went with two 8 year olds and a ten year old andthey all loved it. For once, a film for everyone!

chrismsawin

24 May 2012

A goofy movie with little purpose

It's always kind of awkward going into a movie you know is based on abook, but you never read the source material since it never interestedyou. Now there's a movie and a buzz beginning to pick up, but you stilldon't see the attraction. So if you're forced to see the movie anddon't like it, is it because you convinced yourself you weren't goingto like it going in or is it because it's just not a good movie? Wellan open mind is a good thing, but sometimes things just aren't your cupof tea and you don't like a movie because it's either not good or it'saimed at an audience that you don't fit into. Diary of a Wimpy Kid isshelved somewhere between not being good and being aimed at a youngeraudience.The movie begins with an incredibly predictable opening and it kind ofsets the tone for the rest of the movie while also giving you an ideaof the hell you're about to sit through. In a nutshell, Diary of aWimpy Kid is about middle school pains; the ups and downs of trying toblend in and be popular while dealing with the outrageous transitionfrom elementary to middle school. As an adult, middle school isn'texactly something you think about regularly. High school? Yes. Middleschool? Not so much. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is able to make you feel alittle nostalgic about middle school and triggers memories similar towhat Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) is trying to accomplish. School isobviously going to be the most important part of your life, right?After school activities, being popular, and attaining that classfavorite moniker in the yearbook is the only way you'll ever getanywhere in this world.But a slight wave of nostalgia isn't really enough to make this movieworthwhile. It's incredibly juvenile, which is to be expected. But thehumor will more than likely come off as some of the most dense materialyou've heard in quite some time; sibling rivalry, getting peed on,boogers, hairy moles, and being creeped out by unusual individualsamong other things. It really just feels very immature like trying togo back and watch "Sesame Street" in your thirties even though youdon't have any kids.I mostly feel like the movie would've been stronger if it was entirelyanimated. While live-action gives the movie a more realistic andrelatable quality, the subject matter felt better suited for animationand the short bits that were animated were easily some of thehighlights. Obnoxious children are one of my pet peeves. That is onething nobody should have to be forced to succumb to ever and this movieis just filled with nothing but that. Rowley (Robert Capron) wasn't,but he was also twice as immature as everyone else around him.Meanwhile Chloe Moretz was a welcome addition to the cast and seemed tobe somewhat normal despite being an outcast, but her character wastotally pointless. She works for the school newspaper and hangs outunderneath bleachers. That's all she does. And all the while we'restuck listening to kids being called "turd burglars" and have to learnabout the "cheese touch." Greg complains several times about the moronsaround him and it's nothing more than the pot calling the kettle blackas Diary of a Wimpy Kid is fairly moronic the majority of the time.The entire first half of the wrestling scene seemed to be rippedstraight from the W.T.F. episode of "South Park." They complained aboutthe uniforms, were inspired by "fake" wrestling, and the coach evenmade a speech about REAL wrestling being better than "fake" wrestling.In a movie like this, that probably isn't a good thing having aPG-rated movie being compared to a TV-MA show since there's essentiallyno way one can live up to the other. It was kind of sad more thananything.The main thing that plagues Diary of a Wimpy Kid is that there doesn'treally seem to be any sort of clear message the movie can really offerits audience. Should I ignore advice from my older brother? Not joinany after school activity ever? Stand up for my friends? Do the rightthing? Dance with my mom? Eat moldy cheese off the ground? Be proud ofwho I am and not change to fit in? All of these are glossed over, butnever really fully developed.Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a cluttered family film. It feels like it'sdumbed-down to appeal to a younger audience while the humor andstoryline is ridiculously childlike and leaves no room for olderindividuals to jump on board. Its shades of nostalgia and smalladditions of animation are somewhat charming, but are incapable ofsaving the film from mostly being an exhaustive effort atentertainment.

Kathy

23 May 2012

Great movie!

Just saw the movie today with my son and his friend they are both 10 and they loved it. It was great on the way home to hear young critics talking about how the book was different. All in all it was a great movie.

LikeLoversLostinSpace

23 May 2012

I loved it! (

Okay, I read the books when I was younger and immediately fell in love with them. Then when I heard that "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" was becoming a movie, I went CRAAAZZZYYYY! I saw it tonight, and it was 100 times better than I could have imagined. The acting was great, and they got the PERFECT people for Rowley and Greg! (: If you haven't seen it, I would DASH to your nearest theatre, its well worth the money.

23 May 2012

so funny

took my kids to see this movie not reading the books myself didn't know what to expect but it was hilarious, can't wait for the others to make it out in theaters

me

22 May 2012

Its for kids 10 and under!

This movie is not for teenagers. They think they are too cool. But my 8 year old read the book and loved the movie. I am a teacher. I liked the movie. It was funny and gross and goofy...all stuff that kids like. Tell the critics to shut up! I don't even understand half the words that they are writing about the movie. It is for kids not an Oscar type movie. Goodness.

21 May 2012

Kids love this movie

This review is from: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Blu-ray/DVD + Digital Copy) (Blu-ray) My kids love the books and they love the movie. It has a good theme and does seem to have a ribbon that runs through it that can help teach children a lesson or two about life. As an adult, it found it fun to watch, but not in my top 1000 movies. If you have kids that like the books, they will love the movie too.

Paul Haakonsen

20 May 2012

Dont eat the cheese...

I found "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" to be a rather good movie, withentertainment for the entire family.The story told here is a nice story about lots of things, includingfriendship, standing up for whom you are, trying to fit in and ofcourse the story of the cheese on the ground (watch the movie and youwill know what I mean). I haven't read the book, so I wasn't familiarwith the characters, story or anything beforehand. But still, I foundthis movie to be quite nice. And anyone who ever attended school willbe able to recognize lots of things that could happen in real life aswell.As for the cast of actors/actresses, well there was a lot of niceperformances from the children, especially Zachary Gordon, playing GregHeffley, and also Robert Capron, playing Rowley Jefferson. These twoboy had really good on-screen chemistry and genuinely seemed to be bestof buddies. And of course, Chloe Moretz, playing Angie Steadman, did agood job, despite having a rather minor role in the movie. It was,however, somewhat of a surprise to see Steve Zahn in a movie like this,playing Frank Heffley, Gregs' father. But he sort of seemed nice forthat role, adding a strangely odd quirk to the father character.Throughout the movie there is a bunch of funny moments and scenes,where you will be laughing, because it is funny, but also sometimesawkward. And that touch of comedy really made the movie work quitewell. Of course, the cast had a lot of to do with chemistry of thecharacters and how they came off on the screen.I think that "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" can be equally enjoyed by adultsand children alike, because despite having an almost all-out childrencast, there is something to learn from the movie for us all. There aresome nice morales being told in the movie. I was genuinely pleased withthe movie and enjoyed it.

20 May 2012

Clever, entertaining and funny but with a couple of caveats..

As someone who never read these books and just watched it on a whim one night, I found this movie entertaining and laughed a lot at the way the actors portrayed their characters in situations that were obviously exaggerated for the big screen, yet nonetheless came off hysterically funny. One of my favorite scenes is where Greg decides to try out for the school play and the song that the director/teacher makes the kids sing is "Total Eclipse of the Heart." The mere choice of that song is brilliant in and of itself, but the way it's sung by the extras made me howl with laughter because they're so badly off-key and/or melodramatic that it brings to mind auditions for American Idol (the really bad ones)!The characters all seem to fit except for the girl who takes photos for the school newspaper and hangs out under the bleachers (which is strange). Her sage wisdom and advice to Greg and Rowley is fine but she never really fits in with the storyline. It's like they just kind of throw her into a scene at random and there's no real benefit from it because nothing ever really comes of it. I think they could/should have done more with her character.The worst thing I can say about this movie is the way it disrespects Greg's mom and dad. The mom is the one who seems to be most engaged with their boys and tries to discipline them and teach them about life, while the dad simply stands by mostly mute without much to add to the upbringing of their children. Having not read the books, I am left to wonder if the characters are like that in the book. If so, then I guess it's just in keeping with the author's writing, but it's very disappointing to see. The only glimmer of hope is when the dad tells Greg, "I think she deserved it" after Greg (who plays an apple tree) begins an on-stage apple-throwing frenzy when he hurls an apple at the girl playing the part of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz; thus unceremoniously ending the play. I agree. Dorothy deserved it. Greg thanks his dad and the two walk off with dad's arm around Greg's shoulder in a display of genuine fatherly affection and support. Too bad there weren't more scenes like that.There is a lot of mean-spirited behavior from Greg's brother Rodrick which wasn't dealt with by the parents. That was frustrating to watch. In real life siblings, and brothers especially, can be very mean to each other, but it would have been nice to see the parents do something about it instead of ignoring it or refusing to listen when Greg tried to tell them what really happened, like in the beginning scene where Rodrick wakes Greg up at 4AM telling him he'd better get moving or he'll be late for his first day of middle school. As Greg rushes to get dressed, fed and so forth he wakes up the parents and his toddler brother; which gets Greg in trouble because now they can't get the toddler back to sleep. When they find Rodrick in bed snoring they just presume Greg lied. They don't stop to think that there's no logical reason for Greg to be up at 4AM rushing around trying to get ready for school.The lessons Greg learns about friendship and popularity are hard but good. The message is good in that department, eventually. Still, when all is said and done, this movie is very entertaining and it made me laugh many times. It's not easy to find a movie that is this entertaining and doesn't succumb to the usual foul language, crude sexual connotations and/or drug use that so many movies seem to these days. Refreshingly clean and witty. I really liked it.If you watch with no expectations, as I did, you might like it too.

19 May 2012

Just like the book

This review is from: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (DVD) I read a couple of pages from the first book as my nephew insisted I did.... I really liked it for kids his age, he is 8. I saw the movie on a flight, and really liked it, so I bought it for my nephew and he hasn't stop watching it!

19 May 2012

Cool DVD

This review is from: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (DVD) thank you for the fast shipping and excellent quality. My son will enjoy his first DVD movie on one of his favorite books. I will enjoy watching it along with him.

19 May 2012

Made My Kids Laugh Without Too Many Objectionable Moments

Rating this movie is a difficult thing because I have to keep in mind the target audience and not rate it in terms of my own standards for judging films. In essence, as you might have suspected, the book is better than the movie (even though I don't necessarily like everything about the books, either). In fact, movies almost always suffer in comparison to the books on which they're based. So judged as a kids' movie, I give "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" 3 stars. It wasn't great, but it did have moments that made my 10 and 11 year old sons laugh. There was some genuine humor that even an adult could enjoy with his children. My sons also enjoyed looking at the ways the movie was different than the book. As a parent who's careful about what my kids watch, I was pleasantly surprised that there were relatively few objectionable things. Yes, I knew that a certain amount of grossness would accompany the movie (and which I knew would make my boys laugh), but it was actually less than I expected. There is one scene with a woman in a bikini on a motorcycle magazine that was unnecessary in a movie that had few other things like this and that will mainly be watched by pre-adolescents. I also wasn't too keen on the portrayal of the parents (especially fathers) who Hollywood often portray as clueless and careless. While there are bullies like Roderick in real life, in a comedy such bullying seems unnecessary. The movie "redeemed" the main character, Greg, at the end by having him do something nice to "atone" for all that he'd done wrong throughout the movie. However, all of the times he mistreated his best friend, Rowley, were actually sort of painful and not particularly humorous. There was also a weird tension in the film every time the character Angie Steadman appeared. She seemed so much more mature than everyone else that this character provides a moral center for the film. But she was made a peripheral part of the movie, and the scenes with her in it seemed weirdly out of place and humorless. In spite of this, the actress who played her had a big screen presence, and so, in a way, she stood out in a movie where she really didn't belong. We watch movies like this mainly to make us laugh, and this movie did this in an average way.

Karen

18 May 2012

A winner for kids adults

Just got back from seeing this movie with my 9yo and 11yo, plus a bunch of their friends ranging from 4 to 13. All the kids loved it (the boys slightly more than the girls) and the mothers were laughing all the way thru it as well. No boring stretches of dialog. Totally fun thru-out, especially the 80's self-esteem clip (priceless!) Plenty of bodily humor, no swear words. Clever writing. Can't wait for the DVD.

linda

17 May 2012

Truly Disappointed

I normally do not write reviews for movies, HOWEVER, I find it necessary to write in on this particular movie, due to the fact the "powers that be" found it necessary to direct children take the Lord's name in vain, not once but several times. The term oh! my gosh would have suffice just fine and gotten the same results. No! it apparently more important for the shock value (since these words are not in the book). Our society seems to use the OMG (oh my gosh!) all the time and now we are putting the words into the mouths of young actors. Shame on the directors/producers and shame on the parents for not speaking up and saying no! Please think twice about paying money for this movie. The book! does not resort to this kind of language.

Saad Khan

16 May 2012

Right from the Middle school Kids mind but the ending was from Kingdergardan kids mind

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID – CATCH IT ( B+ ) The Diary of a wimpy Kid isright from the Middle School kid's mind, at times it's pure, littleinsane & sometimes immature as well. The director still did a great jobby adopting this book and presenting it I think the way it will be inthe books as well. After understanding that it's for kids of 8-12yrs Ihad great time watching it. It was funny and very entertaining. ZacharyGordon did a good job playing the lead Wimpy kid (Greg)… he was totallynatural though the real funny kid and scene stealer in the movie wasRobert Capron (Rowley). He was hilarious, funny and adorable. His oneliner jokes are just Hilarious I was literally laughing hard. ChloeMoretz did get to do much but she was adorable as always. Devon Bostickas mean brother of Greg was like a Brat teenager, he has some reallyfunny moment in it with Zachary Gordon. Watch it because it takes youinto the mind of a young kid, I liked it though the ending was likefrom Kindergarten Kid's mind.

16 May 2012

stuck in the mail

This review is from: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (DVD) I accidently had a one number error on the address. The seller can't help me. Evidently Amazon has no phone number to contact them. The post office after many many calls told me they cannot help me. The package is going back and forth between two states and the post office cannot or will not help me. So in short: The seller cannot help me, Amazon won't help me, the post office won't help me. I suggest not buying from vendors any more.

16 May 2012

Hilarious, Fun Family Movie

This review is from: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (DVD) I saw this movie when it came out in the movies with my 2 girls, at the time age 8 and 10, along with their 2 friends and my friend. As an adults and childs point of view, the movie was really funny and entertaining. We thought it was awesome and a must have for our video collection. My nephews who are 5 and 8 just saw it for the first time and watched it over and over again 3 days straight, they thought it was hilarious. It's a great family movie and the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid "Roderick Rules" that is out in theaters is another one will be purchasing as soon as it is available. It is an awesome sequel, we were cracking up the whole time. My kids have also been enjoying the Diary of a Wimpy Kid chapter books for years now. If your child is into reading or even not, maybe it will get them interested. My one daughter who is not that into reading loves these books, because of the comic strips throughout, she has even started making her own comics. I have only good things to say about this movie, and anything pertaining to it.

canuckteach

15 May 2012

Fair to Middlin...

I saw Diary of a Wimpy Kid (DOAWK) at a Cineplex large screen(full-price), with 2 grand-daughters, one of whom has read the books (Ihaven't). I concur with others that the film starts out promising, buttends to bog down in the middle. The main character becomes a littlemean-spirited, and the fun begins to fade somewhat. I gather that thebooks contain a certain cynical tone for the main character, and thatthe humour plays off that. When you transfer to a screenplay, you haveto get the 'voice' right, or else the gags don't work.I might compare it to describing a Seinfeld plot to a bewilderedforeigner: "you see, George takes a disabled parking spot at the mall,causing a girl in a wheelchair to have an accident, so George andKramer buy her a replacement wheelchair that has defective brakes, andshe goes screaming down a hill.." sounds mean, huh? it's not -- it'shilarious WHEN you see it in context. Maybe that's what happens inDOAWK -- incorporating several ideas from the books resulted in some'losing the context', so to speak.However, family films are few and far between these days, and this ispassable family fun. My advice? if you have a matinée-priced theater,go see it. At full price? stay home and watch your 'Better off Dead'DVD on your big screen TV.

Rooster_93

15 May 2012

Thank god I grew up before this plague spread

Diary of a Wimpy is about a (you've guessed it) wimpy kid who goesenters his first year of middle school, eager to stay on top. Yet he isdrawn back by his friend who hasn't realized they've finishedelementary school 9eg, riding a pink bike, dressing up in foreignclothes, wearing matching uniforms with the MC, misuse of adultlanguage, etc), an older deviant brother who always gets him in trouble(scaring him while peeing to make it look like the m.c. was doing it onpurpose, getting up at 4am believing to be 8am) and a deranged girlnamed patty who has deep seated hatred for the boy and will doeverything to crush him (apparently due to a grudge when the maincharacter called her "fatty" in kindergarten). The movie is based on abook that my little cousins are for some reason addicted to, which isfine given the satirical literary nature of this type of series.However, the producers didn't seem to catch the drift on this one.Though i have never read the book itself, it become automatic that anyfilm adaptation will fall way behind its original source. But you canget close. But I'm not going to talk about the specific details that are left outor added in (because I haven't read the book!), but rather the naturethe producers were trying to pick at when making this movie. Iunderstand that this being a kids/preteen oriented story, there weresome adults philosophies and the humor was good but it had its touchingmoments (his best friend abandoning him and making new friends andbecoming popular, because the point of the story was not to be amockery of everyday life of a kid like captain underpants.Now that being said about the good part, lets focus on the negativeaspects of the film. The main character, causes the audience to flipflop on him. we don't know whether to be sympathetic towards this guyor really hate his guts. At the beginning of the film, you start ofliking this guy and kinda relate to him. However as the filmprogresses, you really start to remember that kid back in sixth gradewho thought he was Mr. hot shot but no one really liked him, that's whothe MC becomes. The seen where Rowley finally gets fed up with Greg'sselfish nature and tells him to f-k off, you cheered more for Rowleyfor finally seeing that piece of crap for what he is. Of curse next fewscenes you start to feel sorry for Greg as he watches Rowley move onand make new friends and enjoy his popularity (which he got for beinghimself, a philosophy Greg scorned earlier). Then there are times whereyou hate every character in the film. like you wanna jump in and caleveryone a ditto-head and then shell them with ammunition till you arethe only one left on the screen. Also the reality of the film was stretched. I've always criticized TVshows and movies about kids that portray them as if in their late teensand early twenties where they do anything they want. This film does notfall under that, however, the middle school environment is portrayedrather as a darker and satiric version of elementary school. No wherein middle school did we have anything as ridiculous as the 'cheese'touch. Hell, i don't even remember having anything the like inelementary, let alone middle school( unless over the past severalyears, kids have been dimmed down enough by the decaying publiceducation system and had their brains rotted by modern day kids TV). Idon't know what it plays in the book, I will not discuss because I donot know. then there comes the role of Angie, the seventh grader whosits under the bleachers alone and shown up for four scene and remainson screen no more than five minute. I heard she was not even acharacter in the book. Why they added her and what role she plays Ihave no idea. I guess that's where a lot of fans of the book sort offelt stabbed by this film. than there's patty who bullies everyone toget her what she wants or else a) if you are a student she'll beat youup b) if you're an adult, she'll get her parents to sue you. Honestly,a character like her makes you want to get up and punch the screen,cursing today's society. Another thing about the film is they somehowrelate middle to high school. The only connection between the two isyou you finish eighth grade, and start ninth. Middle school is a junglewhile high school is a slowly decaying society void of any reason. Okaythey're more alike in some ways than most. The reason I give this film a 6 out of 10 is they do add in some goodhumor and and does get emotional where you feel for a certaincharacter. The film is a big break from these pop culture infestedpieces of Garbage that come out of Disney's ass and the even worseimitations vomited up by other industries. Though I've seen loads ofbetter more memorable family films, this one stands out better than 95%percent of the crap that gets passed for this genre.

cyclone259

14 May 2012

Some painful memories

My wife and I took our nine year-old daughter and her best friend tosee this at the discount movie theater (only .75 that day... cheaperthan RedBox). I know that their age group is their intended audience,but had a small amount of interest in seeing it after perusing thebooks. I think the material is timeless, no matter who reads it. Mostof us have experienced at least one of the incidences or feelingsdescribed.As for the movie itself, the two young reviewers we took felt that thebook was better. I have to agree. I don't feel the movie was nearly asclever as the source material, even with the interlacing of animationin the style of the book series. There were some of those 'ewwww!'moments, but personally, I see those as cheap humor (potty/fart/boogerjokes) but, it's always guaranteed a laugh from the tween and youngerset.I also won't take 'it was a kids movie' as an excuse for lack ofcharacter development and plot. It wasn't insulting, but pretty tepidoverall. I did relate to Greg and had an overall sense of'been-there-done-that' when he let his friend take a fall and thenregretted it. That scene made me uneasy and took me back toelementary/middle school. My favorite part of the entire film was the'Just Be Yourself' and the cheesy 80's portrayal of self-esteem throughbreak dancing. Truly awful and funny. If they'd just release that sceneby itself, I'd buy it.Now, this was by far not the best movie depicting the throws ofyouthful angst, but it was OK. The characters were once again, OK. Mostwere stereotypes, with little depth. There was an actual life lessonthrown in for good measure, but I don't see this one as staying abovethe fray for movies of this type. If you do like this one, you mightcheck out 'Angus'. Although it pre-dates this one by a long time, it'sworth watching, plus it's George C. Scott's last film.