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This movie would have been less enjoyable had I watched it at a theatre. It's too long for a comfortable theatre experience. However, at home on DVD it was very enjoyable.

The characters had more substance than previous versions of this title. And while some of the 'bonding' scenes between Ann and King Kong were overly long, they did manage to convey, more than the older versions, that special relationship which developed between them.

It did seem that there were some characters which got some build-up without having any resolution. Especially the boy Jimmy. It seemed there might be some revelation regarding him, but nothing came of it.

Visually this was a stunning production. King Kong was VERY well done. For a computer generated character, there was very good facial expression. And movement was quite smooth. There were some very good scenes of New York during the period also.

Some of the other computer generated scenes were just a bit 'off'. The dinosaurs running with the crew was not the best. And some of the action scenes seemed to go on too long, notably the scene with all the bugs. There was a feeling of "when is this going to be finished?" Really the only thing wrong with this movie is its length. My rating would have been more like 9 instead of 7 had it been shorter.

Make no mistake, this was an excellent movie that you should not miss seeing. But it would have been better at two hours instead of three.

P.S. Since writing the above, I was fortunate to acquire an amateur edited version of this film with a running time of only two hours. I was honestly astounded at how much more I enjoyed this movie at two hours. This editing (in which not one word of dialogue was removed) was done by a group of teenage boys by the way, and was every bit as professional as a commercial production. If you are a viewer who found the length of this movie to be a detraction, you may wish to investigate this avenue. I was told the boys used a programme called "Adobe Premiere".

I guess it's been a long time since Steve played the banjo on the Muppet Show. I have really enjoyed some of Steve's movies..."Roxanne", "Being There", etc. but he seems to have lost his touch in this one.

This movie is still very watchable mind you, but the "former" Steve is missing. It seems there were too many gags (ie; dog & crotch, dangling from balcony) and not enough real comedy like we're used to from Steve (such as the nose jokes in Roxanne).

Also this movie has nothing to do with the 1950 "Cheaper by the Dozen" (or it's original sequel "Belles on Their Toes")...other than 12 kids of course. It seemed more akin to "The Great Outdoors" or "Meatballs".

There were some cute scenes however: The two kids crush & the dads both spying on them in the theatre, and nearly giving birth in a canoe I found amusing. It would have been a lot more amusing had she actually given birth in the canoe though.

Oddly my favourite actress in this was the little girl (can't remember her name right now) who had the crush on the little boy. She was really cute and engaging. I hope she appears in more movies.

Thankfully, I did not pay money to see this (thanks to the wonders of bittorrent) But I will definitely be buying the DVD. It is a good family movie, just not up to my expectations for Steve Martin.

Possibly I should not endorse downloading, but movie-going is difficult where I live as it entails a long, costly ferry trip. Otherwise I probably would have seen this in a theatre.

This movie played a few days ago on one of the old movie channels (Fox Movie Classics I believe). I had seen it a few years ago, but hadn't remembered much about it. It's not one of those movies that has much memorable about it.

I felt the story had the potential to go places, but the acting was just not up to carrying it. I was disappointed in Kenny Rogers' performance (he should stick to singing). The kids were mostly blah, with the exception of "Breezy/Heather". But I also felt "Doc" and "Swifty" did a decent job.

My son (who is almost 6) enjoyed watching this. He likes car racing, which was I'm sure his major attraction. And I enjoyed it for the most part too (it is a cute story). Some parents might not care for the boy (Swifty) cussing. He uses such words as "schit", "bastard", "damn", "hell", but never the "F" word.

SPOILER...

Brewster Baker (K.Rogers) is a down-on-his-luck race car driver. He is passing through a small Texas town and stops to fuel. During the stop, six kids strip his car. Brewster later chases down the culprits, rescues one from the river, and learns they are orphans. He also discovers that the local sheriff is in on their criminal enterprise. (The sheriff and his cohort deputy remind me a lot of Boss Hogg & Co. from Dukes of Hazard).

Brewster is thrown in gaol but one of the kids (Swifty) breaks him out. (I found this scene humorous with Swifty toting a gun and trying to act like a gunslinger from some old west movie). Brewster flees town with the kids in tow and the sheriff in hot pursuit. But they all escape thanks to the resourcefulness of the kids who tampered with the sheriff's car.

The kids get attached to Brewster and finagle their way into being his pit crew. And Brewster begins to warm to the kids also, but doesn't like the idea much.

With the kids' help Brewster works his way back to a high position in the racing circuit. Things seem rosy until they meet Brewster's arch rival, Turk. It seems Turk is the reason Brewster lost out on his previous racing career. The kids pull a fast one on Turk, Turk and Brewster get into it, and in the last race of the film it seems Brewster is going to beat Turk and win the race. But, Brewster sees his kid pit crew being taken away by the Texas sheriff and gives up the race to save the kids. (Turk doesn't win BTW).

The end of the movie shows Brewster marrying his girlfriend and keeping all the kids. (It's a nice ending).

END OF SPOILER.

My thoughts are they could have done so much more with this story. Some parts had the feeling that they were trying to copy stuff like "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Dukes of Hazard". They should have just done their own thing and forgotten about other programmes.

On a positive note: There were a lot of good bonding scenes with the kids. Story-telling in the motel room, hunting for Breezy when she ran away, singing songs in the RV. And, although not well-acted, Brewster's relationship with the kids was exemplary...he acted the parental role (correcting Swifty's language, counseling Breezy, etc.), and still had fun with them (joking, stories). They developed his role well enough that you felt he was suitable to care for the kids.

I'm giving a mediocre rating of 6 for this. Personally, I would have no problem with kids viewing this movie, but there is some mild language, and a couple of scenes (Breezy soliciting Turk in his trailer & Brewster's fight with Turk) that some may find inappropriate.

This would be another of those rainy-day movies.

I enjoyed this movie (and all the other Herbie movies also). And it was great to see Herbie win again.

I was a bit afraid before I saw this that they might deviate from the originals and give us some moralistic bs about how you can't always win or some such idiocy.

Having Herbie win is what it's all about.

I also enjoyed the nostalgic sound track. They resurrected some good tunes to go along with the cute little car.

And as an added bonus, it was rated G, proving that Disney can still put out a decent movie for everyone (I was beginning to worry about Disney in that regard).

Some people might find some of the stunts Herbie pulls rather far-fetched (driving on the fence, grinding on the guard rail), but, if you can accept a car with a mind of its own, you ought to be able to accept most anything. Besides, it's just simply a lot of fun.

The acting, for the most part, was bright and cheerful. I enjoy Lindsay Lohan's acting quite well. And Matt Dillon did very well as the comical villain too. I was a little shocked to see my favourite Batman aging so much though. Too bad they couldn't have gotten Dean Jones in it somehow.

If you are at all a Herbie fan and somehow missed this, you MUST see it. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

I hadn't planned on wasting my time reviewing this mess, but there are some subtleties that crept into my consciousness after the second forced viewing which may enhance a prospective viewer's experience.

First of all, this movie obviously was designed for younger kids. That fact alone has a detrimental effect on a review done by an adult (as can be seen by previous reviews). However, it should be noted that a movie for the target audience will most likely be attended by their parents or guardians, and should be at least bearable for them also. This movie falls short in that regard.

My son, who is 5, absolutely raves about this movie, and will no doubt wear out the DVD in the next few weeks. But my younger brother, who is 17, walked out five minutes into it. Kids under 12 will probably be best entertained by Sharkboy & Lavagirl. It is a very colourful movie with a lot of motion and many bizarre graphics. There is nothing offensive in this movie by the way. Even the "fight" scenes are mild and clean.

Now, the main subtlety on my mind is that Sharkboy (who was the best actor in this colourful, but mindless drivel) has obvious hidden talent. This movie, however, was not the right venue to expose that talent. Sharkboy moves well in action scenes and would be more aptly suited to a martial arts style role. Also, Sharkboy has a wide range of facial expressions (although the ones emphasised by this movie consisted mainly of scowls and frowns). With continued training, suitable roles, and of course (and most importantly) proper direction, Sharkboy could go far with his acting career. Also, he is a decent looking lad, which seems to be a requirement for an acting career these days. I'm certainly hoping we'll be seeing more of Sharkboy in the future.

Another noted item: If you have the 2D version, it seems to be far superior to the 3D. My son thought the glasses were fun the first time, but after that he didn't want anything to do with them and now only watches the 2D version. Possibly this 3D effect is better if viewed in a theatre.

I'm giving out a rating of 7 for this title, simply because it certainly has the ability to entertain the kids...which was its purpose I'm sure. I would definitely recommend Sharkboy & Lavagirl if you have younger children. For adults it has no value whatsoever.

Quite well-made family movie. I feel it is suitable for all ages.

It has good characterisations. I enjoyed the pompous constable who was at odds with the kids (good acting on his part also). And the girl with the dogs was my favourite of the kids. The conspirator, Reubleau (sp) was good as the bumbling bad guy also.

The story is certainly for kids (I believe there was a book from which this movie was made). But it isn't so juvenile that adults can't enjoy it.

The story revolves around a gang of thieves who steal French currency from a train. This loot is hidden in an abandoned building.

A group of French kids encounter one of the thieves when they collide with him while riding their "headless horse". (This is a tricycle affair with the body of a horse...minus the head.) The thief, fearing exposure from the constable investigating the collision, hides the key to the abandoned building in the body of the horse hoping to retrieve it later.

This turns out to be more complex than the thieves ever realised. They first try bribing the kids with an electric train to give them the horse. When this doesn't work they raid the kids' clubhouse, but the horse is away being repaired. Eventually the thieves manage to steal the horse (right in broad daylight) but the kids have already removed the key.

Several humorous mishaps (usually involving the bungler Reubleau) help move the story along. He has a car crash, gets chased by the girl's dogs, fights with the gypsies, and so on.

By this time the kids have gotten suspicious and start investigating. They eventually discover the key and what it belongs to.

The climax occurs in the abandoned building which turns out to have been a manufacturer of masks, costumes, Mardi gras favours and the like. The kids go wild in the place until the villains show up and try to capture the kids. During the mêlée the dogs are summoned and turn the tables on the thieves.

The stolen money is recovered much to the surprise of the local inspector and the kids become heroes for the day. They even have the stuffy constable ordered to stop traffic so the horse can roll on down the street.

A very engaging little story. I liked how the inspector treated the kids and how he cooperated with them.

The scenes were well done also. There was the dark, mysterious atmosphere when the thieves are prowling around the kids clubhouse. Then there was the festive, colourful mood in the old factory. I'm assuming most of this was shot in France somewhere. At least the train depicted was of French origin.

And for kids, I felt the acting was rather good.

This would make for a pleasant little diversion on a rainy day.