My 8 years old daughter forced me to take her to this movie. I was expecting a kid's comedy but to my surprise it had very little comedy and the main themes are mostly for adults. The main subject is the public education system; schools whose only goal is to get good results on whatever government imposed test in order to raise the school level and obviously get better bonus for the result. It does not matter that kids do not learn; since the goal is TEACHING THE TEST, NOT TEACHING THE PUPILS.
On the other hand, the movie attacks the extreme conduct rules of some schools; basically oriented to push discipline over creativity and punishing students by taking out unimportant classes like Arts or PE in order to accommodate budgets for "other business".
I did not read the original book; but I assume it was even more poignant about these issues.
However, as important and clear the message is; the movie does not deliver on the kids comedy part; there are too many sad situations like a cancer victim brother, a mother more interested in her career and getting company than in communicate with her children, a prospect self-center stepfather to ignore.
On top of that; when the main character start his rebellion against the dictatorship of both Principals; the pranks do not madness or energy to generate more than very mild smile.
The inclusion of the animated drawings created by the protagonist; do not really add anything to the move and felt kind of disconnected with the main story; they do not even reflex something funny or interesting.
In brief; kids get bored after about 30 minutes; but some pranks might get their attention back for a while; but we as parents need to think about the criticism the movie puts on the School system and how we communicate with our siblings.
On the other hand, the movie attacks the extreme conduct rules of some schools; basically oriented to push discipline over creativity and punishing students by taking out unimportant classes like Arts or PE in order to accommodate budgets for "other business".
I did not read the original book; but I assume it was even more poignant about these issues.
However, as important and clear the message is; the movie does not deliver on the kids comedy part; there are too many sad situations like a cancer victim brother, a mother more interested in her career and getting company than in communicate with her children, a prospect self-center stepfather to ignore.
On top of that; when the main character start his rebellion against the dictatorship of both Principals; the pranks do not madness or energy to generate more than very mild smile.
The inclusion of the animated drawings created by the protagonist; do not really add anything to the move and felt kind of disconnected with the main story; they do not even reflex something funny or interesting.
In brief; kids get bored after about 30 minutes; but some pranks might get their attention back for a while; but we as parents need to think about the criticism the movie puts on the School system and how we communicate with our siblings.