From: burd@pilot.njin.net (Barry Burd)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: 3 Ninjas Reviews
Keywords: ninjas movies kids
Date: 3 Sep 92 04:02:59 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

A few days ago I posted a message asking for reviews of the
film entitled "3 Ninjas". The reviews I received were overwhelmingly 
positive.  So yesterday I took my kids to see it.

My own impression: If you don't mind having your kids see some fighting,
punching, throwing and other such stuff, this movie is harmless fun.
The fighting isn't very graphic, none of it is emotionally wrenching
or sadistic, and none of it is overdone.

(If, on the other hand, you want to shield your kids from all physical 
violence on the screen, then the title alone will probably keep you
from seeing 3 Ninjas.  Personally I gave up trying to shield my kids
from "adventure" movies about three years ago.  It just wasn't worth 
the emotional tension it created.)

I don't agree with the reviewers who say the movie is well-made.  From
an adult's point of view I thought it was pretty silly and unbelievable.
A sort of Karate Kid for ten-year-olds without any of the moral
underpinnings that were in the first Karate Kid movie.  Some of the 
elements in 3 Ninjas were so obviously formulated to appeal to small
boys that the script felt like a big stew of current fads and cliches.
(Note: use of the male noun "boys" is intentional.)

Even so, I enjoyed going to see it, and most of all, I enjoyed the 
thrill my six-year-old got out of seeing it.  P.S. My four-year-old
daughter wiggled throughout the entire second half, spilled a cup
of lemonade on everyone about two-thirds of the way through, and
got her leg stuck painfully between the two theater seats near the 
end.  Even for her, this was a successful outing.

Now for the reviews I received via e-mail:

From: Ed._Zayas@transarc.com

I just took my (almost) 6 year old son to see "3 Ninjas".  We both
really enjoyed it!  There was lots of punching, kicking, and chopping of
bad men dressed in black - basically, your standard fantasy material. 
There were also enough "thoughtful" scenes, discussing that they were
after more than rendering people unconscious with their martial arts. 
The three "radical dudes" assigned to kidnap the ninjas were pretty
madcap, and not very threatening at all.

Basically, this is not brain material, but a relatively harmless romp
that brings out some good points that you can talk to your children
about afterwards.

    Ed.


From jil@donuts0.bellcore.com 

Went to see "3 Ninjas" a few weeks ago with my girlfriend, her 7-yr old
daughter & 4-yr old son.  Don't remember too much about it.  There, of course,
was a lot of fighting, but I don't recall a tremendous amount of scenes
bordering on real violence.  I think it might be OK for them to see & not
cause any nightmares.

Jamie


From mh30@prism.gatech.edu 

My husband took our 7-year old son and 4-year old daughter to see
3 Ninjas last weekend, and all of them loved it.  They all saw
Little Nemo recently, and the verdict was unanimous that 3 Ninjas
was much better.  I was a little worried about taking the 4-year
old, but she loved 3 Ninjas too.  The 7-year old was, however,
somewhat disgusted when the oldest of the 3 Ninjas falls in LOVE,
and actually KISSES a GIRL!  But they loved the action and the
slapstick humor.


From pfieland@citron.sw.stratus.com 

I took my three kids to see this movie.  They are 10, 8, and 5 1/2.
I am generally pretty "liberal" on movies.  I took them to see
Batman, for example.  All three of them loved it.  I took all three
of them to see The Witches when it came out (Chris was 4), and they
all loved that, too.

My biggest concern would be whether you 4-year-old will be interested
in sitting through this movie-- it's really targetted for older
children.  My personal opinion is that she's probably a little
young to be interested in seeing it.


From guthrie@nb.rockwell.com 

I took my 4.5 yo daughter to see it and she loved it.  Afterward
she went around pretending to karate chop everyone but she is so
uncoordinated about it that it was funny.  I am very anti violence
but I have seen much more objectionable stuff on TV.  Afterward,  
her desire to take ninja lessons lasted about 2 weeks, less than
my interest in becoming a nun after seing the Sound of Music at
her age (we weren't even catholic).  The villan was scary enough
to get her to climb up on my lap (he has a wicked laugh) but not
scary enough to cause any kind of nightmares as far as I know.
She is not prone to nightmares anyway.  I told her that they were
all pretend and the one guy in Kabuki makeup I likened to Halloween
and she was fine.  I even enjoyed the movie it is quite well done
considering the basic story line.

Good Luck,

Karen  
Newsgroups: misc.kids