Young CriticCoyote vs. ACME
The "lost film" is a winning comedy with meta commentary to boot. Shelved by Warner Bros. as a tax write-off and rescued by an independent buyer, Coyote vs. Acme turns out to be sharp, funny and unexpectedly profound.
Reviews tagged: family film
Young Critic
Young CriticMoana (2026)
Disney reheats another classic, and it shows. This live-action Moana is a nearly shot-for-shot recreation that dilutes everything that made the 2016 original special, with only Catherine Laga'aia's charisma keeping it af
Young CriticMinions & Monsters
A Hollywood love letter that actually earns its bananas. Pierre Coffin sends the Minions to 1920s Hollywood and delivers the best entry in the franchise since the first Despicable Me.
Young CriticThe Sheep Detectives
A heartwarming film that has no right being as good as it is. Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and a flock of sheep solve a murder mystery in rural England — and somehow deliver one of the most genuinely
Young CriticThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Too many power-ups, not enough story. Illumination's latest is more merchandise than movie: a forgettable corporate exercise that squanders its characters, its budget, and any semblance of creative vision.
Young CriticHoppers
Nature, Robots, and a Pixar Firing on All Cylinders Like much of the other Disney brands, Pixar's reputation was severely hurt by the insatiable quotas for "content" in the Streaming Wars, to populate Disney+. The result
Young CriticZootopia 2
Bigger and busier, this sequel can’t recapture the original’s spark After the return of Bob Iger as Disney CEO, a pivot was made to make less quantity of content for the streamer Disney +, which had partially doomed his
Young CriticHow to Train Your Dragon
A dazzling but overly faithful remake that mirrors the original more than it reimagines it Remakes present tough choices for filmmakers: do you remain faithful to the original to please fans, or dare to deviate and put y
Young CriticLilo & Stitch
Another sweet if slightly diluted remake Disney’s live-action remakes of animated classics follow a clear pattern when it comes to financial success. Remakes of films from the studio’s first Golden Era in the 1930s and ’
Young CriticA Minecraft Movie
A Blocky, Soulless Cash Grab Fails to Build Anything Worthwhile It seemed that the “video game” curse that had plagued movie adaptations was broken a few years ago with the halfway-decent Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Unch
Young CriticSnow White
Mirror Mirror, Why Remake This at All? Many blockbusters spend half a decade or more in development before their release, which often causes them to miss prevailing trends or audience cravings. Disney smelled big money i
Young CriticPaddington in Peru
A Heartfelt Adventure That Doesn’t Quite Match Its Predecessor but Still Charms with Marmalade-Sweet Warmth The Paddington films have brought a delightful and earnest warmth with each entry, showcasing originality in t
Young CriticMufasa: The Lion King
Barry Jenkins' prequel is intriguing, but falls into familiar beats Hollywood is split between studios churning endless arrays of sequels and small auteur-driven cinema. Every once in a while there is crossover between t
Young CriticFlow
The animated film is transcendent and a must-watch An animated Latvian film with no dialogue, following a nameless cat as it survives a biblical flood, might sound like cliché cinephile catnip. Yet, Flow is a very real
Young CriticMoana 2
The Disney sequel plays it too safe Under returning CEO Bob Iger, Disney has turned to producing less content and linking to proven properties. As such we are getting less obscure Marvel characters, a pause on Star Wars
Young CriticThe Wild Robot
Chris Sanders' return to the genre brings an endearing film Despite animation being one of the most creatively fertile genres in recent decades—offering originality amid the superhero and sequel glut—it has increasingly
Young CriticIF
John Krasinski's family-friendly fare plays it too safe John Krasinski was allowed to direct pretty much whatever he wanted after delivering two surprise hits with A Quiet Place (2018) and A Quiet Place: Part Two (2020).
Young CriticWonka
The "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" prequel is sweet if hollow Original films are increasingly rare in the studio system, as confidence in new stories wanes in favor of existing IP. As such we are getting a barrage o
Young CriticTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's take of the beloved franchise is a charming win The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise IP is something that Hollywood has struggled to exploit. The beloved 80s children’s series had som
Young CriticSpider-Man: Across the Spider-verse
An expanded ambition and scope doesn't dilute this winning film It seems that we are slowly coming to accept previous genre outcasts into mainstream cinema. Foreign language films seemed to be niche and intellectual corn
Young CriticThe Little Mermaid (2023)
The newest Disney live-action remake is a safe, but charming adaptation The recent Disney live-action remakes have been coy ways to sell the same product to viewers twice. The trend started with the winningly improved Th
Young CriticThe Super Mario Bros. Movie
This video game adaptation is blandly generic Given how readily film studios have exploited IP, it’s a surprise that Nintendo’s video game universe has remained relatively untouched. There was the maligned live-action Su
Young CriticPuss in Boots: The Last Wish
This animated sequel is surprisingly irresistible It can be easy to build preconceived notions about the type of movie that an animated sequel to a spin-off series could be, yet movies such as Puss in Boots: The Last Wis
Young CriticLightyear
The Toy Story spin-off is an enjoyable if derivative feature Pixar has developed a reputation as a studio of original ideas, always delivering something risky, new, and refreshing. However, just as every other major stud