Movie Review; The City of Ember

Rated PG

My Rating; (On a scale of 1-10) 9

Age recommendation; 10 and up

There are a lot of bad movies out there that we want to avoid, yet we still want to find the good ones.  One of the things we have started looking for is the Dove family stamp of approval.  We have yet to see a Dove approved movie that is bad.  Some of them have been boring, a couple have been over the top preachy, but none that have been bad.

I had seen The City of Ember on store shelves for a while, but it wasn’t until I saw a copy with the Dove approval stamp that I was interested.  So when I found a copy of it in our public library, I brought it home.

After watching the movie, the prevailing reaction in our family was, Wow!  The special effects are done by the same company that does the Narnia movies (Walden Media) and they are amazing but that wasn’t all.  The story plot was powerful and engaging, one that drew you in and had you on the edge of your seats, but that wasn't all.  The stories emotions were shown, not told.  You see their disappointments, fears, and hopes; they don’t have to talk about it for you to get it.

The plot is that there is an underground city that is powered by a massive generator.  When the massive generator begins to fail everyone begins to panic.  Two teenagers set out to find a way out of Ember, even though it is forbidden, before the generator completely fails.

This movie is intense, but not so much that it isn’t a family movie.  I have one sister that is scared easily and the only part we skipped for her was the parts involving a giant mole.  If parents think their children might find this a problem, these are easily skipped.

What were some of the good things about the movie?  1. Many of my friends will be happy to know that even though the plot involves a teenage boy and girl, there is no romance.  They treat each other like a brother and sister the entire time. 2. The parents aren’t stupid.  This is not another smart-kids-save-stupid-adults movie.  3. The kids and siblings are nice to each other. 4. It is a great conversation starter.

Overall, I think this is one of the best family friendly movies I have seen come out of Hollywood in recent times, and wonderful for a relaxing family movie night.