Parental Guidance: Oz the Great and Powerful and Wreck-it Ralph

We give you what you need to know about the family-friendliness of this week's new releases.

by Tim Ryan | Friday, Mar. 08 2013

This week in new family films, we've got a pair of protagonists who must journey to unfamiliar lands, be it a magical realm (Oz the Great and Powerful) or a different arcade cabinet (Wreck-it Ralph). Read on to find out what's appropriate for family viewing.

In Theaters This Week:

Oz the Great and Powerful

60%

What's it about? James Franco stars as a roguish carnival magician who finds himself transported to a magical world. There, he meets a trio of witches and is treated like a king. Can our hero summon the courage and smarts to bring peace to the land of Oz?

Who's it for? It's rated PG for "sequences of action and scary images, and brief mild language." Oz is certainly too intense for younger viewers; the film includes hordes of bloodthirsty baboons, people turning into witches, and a spooky graveyard scene, among other things.

Is it any good? Critics say Oz the Great and Powerful doesn't approach the magic of the 1939 Wizard of Oz, but it carves out a personality of its own, with breathtaking special effects and witty performances.

New On DVD:

Wreck-it Ralph

86%

What's it about? Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) is the bad guy in a retro arcade game, but he longs for acceptance and love from his fellow video game characters. So he ventures out of his game in search of adventure and respect -- a trek that could have devastating consequences for his pixilated peers.

Who's it for? It's rated PG for "some rude humor and mild action/vilence." It's probably safe for second graders - as a movie about video games, it's decidedly less intense than your average first-person shooter.

Is it any good? Critics say the Certified Fresh Wreck-it Ralph is a visual phantasmagoria with a clever story and heartfelt characters that should appeal to kids and their parents.

Typhon Q

Who decided to use phantasmagoria?

Mar 6 - 04:54 PM

James Duvall

LOL

Mar 7 - 01:31 PM

Andrew Brinkerhoff

I don't know, but they're spot on: the whole film is visually awesome (the film as a whole is pretty good, too).

Mar 7 - 10:25 PM

Matthew Reimer

I can't wait to see Oz and to see Wreck It Ralph again.

Mar 6 - 06:07 PM

kolya Fist

Wreck It Ralph was underwhelming. As for kids, when he goes and destroys Sara Silverman's car while she's screaming in terror and disbelief that someone she trusted betrayed her, comes across as disturbing.

Mar 7 - 12:20 PM

Matthew Reimer

It was a dark part in the movie but he did because he wanted to save her. King Candy tricked him into destroying her kart so she couldn't race and end up getting the game unplug (which would mean she would die). I can only see that disturbing if you were a very sensitive person.

Mar 7 - 02:40 PM

Bradly Martin

It comes across correctly then. Not a moment you should laugh. Silverman sells a hurt betrayed child perfectly. This should be a Problem? Thank you Matthew Reimer for helping making this point.

Mar 7 - 04:03 PM

Matthew Reimer

Thank you Bradly. :)

Mar 7 - 05:18 PM

Reid Burgess

You suck donkey ass.

Mar 8 - 02:44 AM

Scott Miller

Wreck-It Ralph was possibly my favorite movie of last year. I don't really know what they mean by rude humor -- it wasn't like it was all fart jokes or anything. In fact, I thought it was a funny film with a great story and great characters. My 4-year-old was terrified of the bugs but enjoyed it otherwise.

Mar 7 - 07:15 PM

Thomas Lupton

My only real beef with Wreck-It-Raplh was the cameos by the famous video games characters like Sonic, Bowser, Eggman, etc. They advertised them so much (you can see them on the posters and dvd case), yet they did almost nothing in the movie. They could have been dropped from the film entirely and it would have had no effect. In the end, it was just a cheap gimmick to put butts in movie seats for a film that was great enough to do that on its own.

Mar 8 - 08:00 AM

Andrew Brinkerhoff

Amen to that; I'm not happy with Disney continuing to push that gimmick all over the advertising for the film, and even more irked that for all of the cameos on the DVD front cover art, SGT. CALHOUN is missing! Granted, she's on the back cover, but come on, she had more screen time than all of the cameos combined...

Mar 8 - 02:20 PM

Matthew Reimer

But that's because Calhoun was one of the major characters in the movie and should not be considered a cameo (but when compared to Ralph, Felix, and Vanellope who have a much more impact on the storyline, she's a smaller character.) I felt like the game Hero's Duty didn't get shown a lot. It started with Fix It Felix, Jr., then Hero's Duty for the next twenty minutes, and then Sugar Rush for the rest of the time. Plus some characters like Sonic and Q*Bert had numerous appearances over the course of the film. I saw them at least 4 to 5 times each. One last thing is that Disney put the famous video game characters on the cover so it would attract people to see it and show that it is a video game movie.

Mar 8 - 03:57 PM

Andrew Brinkerhoff

Good point.

Mar 8 - 09:00 PM

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Parental Guidance: Oz the Great and Powerful and Wreck-it Ralph

We give you what you need to know about the family-friendliness of this week's new releases.

In Theaters This Week:

Oz the Great and Powerful

New On DVD:

Wreck-it Ralph

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