John and I have always been massive film fans and we love to watch a new film. However, since Erin was born we haven’t watched quite as many as we used to. Now, when we get the time to watch a film we try to include Erin and find something family friendly. We recently had the opportunity to review the new animated film, Spark, which was released on 18th September!
Spark is a wisecracking, teenage monkey who lives on an abandoned planet with his friends Chunk the pig Chunk, a fox called Vix and some insects. Thirteen years ago, power-hungry Zhong seized control of their planet Beta, wiping out Spark’s family and sending him into hiding. Now, Zhong plans to use the deadly space Kraken to destroy the entire universe, and no one but Spark and his ragtag gang can stop him.
Spark is a great film for children as the storyline is quite nice and simple, although rather predictable. Luckily, this will only really bother adults watching because it’s quite obvious what will happen throughout and at the end of the film.
Spark is rated PG and rightfully so. Although probably still a bit old for Erin, we let her watch it regardless and she really seemed to enjoy it when she was paying attention. Erin is really into animals at the moment and the great thing about Spark was that she was picking out which animal was which and what sounds they made. Okay, she may not have paid any attention to what was actually happening but I didn’t mind.
Spark has a fantastic cast, with voices by Patrick Stewart, Jessica Biel, Hilary Swank and Susan Sarandon. I do think animated films that have a very well-known cast are likely catch my attention over others and that was exactly the case with this one. The CGI isn’t the best though and as an adult watching, I did feel as though it could have been better in a fair few places. It’s a shame that certain aspects of the film didn’t live up to standard of the voice cast!
I may not have loved the film completely but it’s a really fun film for children. Erin got to watch something really different and she seemed to quite like it! I’m sure slightly older children, maybe around 7 or 8 would love it.
Disclaimer: We were sent this DVD for the purpose of this post. All opinions are our own.