Movies that kids prefer to watch when they were younger

A lot of movies before ET showed extra-terrestrial as bad guys, but this film suggests alien creatures might not be so different to you and me.

Spielberg's ET dies before our eyes but is reborn through alien magic and a boy's love. Incredible friendship!

The truth is--Nim's Island is categorised as a little kids' film. It has all the features, sound effects, adventures and all the necessary ingenious paraphernalia to keep the little darlings quiet.

Nim (Breslin) lives on a remote South Pacific island with her father (Butler), a marine biologist. When he leaves her alone to go on an overnight research, and doesn't return, Nim enlists the help of her literary hero Alex Rover, by email. Little does she know that Alex is actually Alexandra (Foster), a recluse and agoraphobic shut-in who hasn't left her big city apartment in weeks. Yet she can't help but be moved by Nim's plea for help, and embarks on a desperate voyage to save the little girl on the unknown island.

For a start, this film is a kid's flick, yet it's something entirely different, since it's not talking down to its audience. It's intricate, as its three main protagonists-- Nim, her dad and Rover, are all in separate locations for the vast majority of the film. Yet it all feels like one interwoven tale and not three separate narratives. And not to forget about the savvy dialogues and brilliant acting as well.

Underlying all the adventure and humour are some very serious messages about the ecologcal state of the planet and the evils of capitalism, yet it's done in a very subtle way. The film is fresh, exciting and of the highest quality. Of course, it's worth watching.

Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen and Jack Black are in this film together, and perhaps someone would have imagined something more of their specialty areas, namely: sex, drugs and rock n roll rather than the animated PG offering of this flick.

Black plays Po, a clumsy panda noodle chef who fantasises about being a Kung Fu fighter with the furious Five, Tigress (Jolie), Viper (Lui), Mantis (rogen), Crane (Cross) and Monkey (Chan).

When fate shines a light on Po and he is named the Dragon Warrior--the only one who can defeat the dreaded Tai Ling (Ian McShane)--he must decide whether it really is his destiny or a perilous suicide mission.

As far as the storyline of this movie, I guess you get pretty much what you'd expect from the storyline--a morality tale about inner-strength and the uniqueness of you. The film combines the best aspects of animation, like the ability to depict scenes that would be unfilmable in live action, with a big cinematic feel of an epic martial arts movie.

The script is also decent. On one level it's laconic, like many kung fu films, with the exception of Black's comedic interludes. Certainly there's anecdotal twist and turns in this film, and I'm still grinning.