SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: STUART LITTLE 2

"STUART LITTLE 2"
(2002) (voices of Michael J. Fox, Melanie Griffith) (PG)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
None	Minor	Heavy	*Moderate	Minor

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Minor	Minor	Heavy	None	*Minor

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Minor	None	Minor	Moderate	Moderate

QUICK TAKE:: Children's Drama/Action: A small talking mouse sets out to save his new friend from a malevolent and dangerous falcon.

PLOT:

It's been two years since Frederick (HUGH LAURIE) and Eleanor Little (GEENA DAVIS) adopted Stuart (voice of MICHAEL J. FOX), a diminutive and talking mouse, into their home and family and he's adjusted quite well since then. Now rooming with his older human brother George (JONATHAN LIPNICKI) and getting along with the family's talkative but neurotic Persian cat Snowbell (voice of NATHAN LANE), Stuart has seen the addition of a human baby sister, Martha (ANNA & ASHLEY HOELCK).

Yet, Stuart feels the pangs of growing up. Not only is his mother smothering him with her overprotective worrying, but he finds that others, including George, are too busy to do anything with him. Thus, when Margalo (voice of MELANIE GRIFFITH), a small and soft-spoken bird literally falls from the sky and nearly into his lap, Stuart is happy to have found a kindred spirit and fellow small being.

Unbeknownst to him, however, Margalo is really working for the Falcon (voice of JAMES WOODS), a malevolent bird of prey that's attempting to find what the Littles possess that might be worth stealing. Margalo isn't happy to be under the Falcon's wing, but is coerced into robbing Eleanor's ring.

When she then leaves without saying goodbye, Stuart believes the Falcon has abducted her. With the help of Snowbell and his feline friend, Monty (voice of STEVE ZAHN), and getting George to cover for his absence, Stuart then sets out to find and rescue Margalo, unaware of the adventure and danger that lie in store for him.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they liked the first "Stuart Little" film, they'll definitely want to see this one.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG: For brief mild language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: It's debatable whether kids view non-human characters as role models, but here's a quick look at them as well as their human counterparts.; STUART LITTLE is the small and good-natured mouse who's starting to feel smothered and left out due to his size. He brightens up when he meets Margalo and then sets out to rescue her when he believes she's been abducted.
HUGH LAURIE & GEENA DAVIS play Stuart's adoptive father and mother who are at friendly odds over how to raise the mouse (she's overprotective while he's optimistic).
JONATHAN LIPNICKI plays Stuart's older human brother who reluctantly agrees to tell white lies about Stuart's whereabouts and activities to keep their parents in the dark about them.
MARGALO is the little bird who befriends Stuart but initially does so only so that she can case the Littles' home. Coerced into stealing Eleanor's ring by the Falcon, she eventually changes her ways and turns out to be good.
SNOWBELL is the family's neurotic, scaredy-cat feline who reluctantly assists Stuart in his rescue mission, but only does so because he knows he'll be blamed for eating the mouse should Stuart not return home.
FALCON plays the malevolent bird of prey who coerces Margalo and threatens harm to her, Stuart and Snowbell.; HUGH LAURIE & GEENA DAVIS play Stuart's adoptive father and mother who are at friendly odds over how to raise the mouse (she's overprotective while he's optimistic).
JONATHAN LIPNICKI plays Stuart's older human brother who reluctantly agrees to tell white lies about Stuart's whereabouts and activities to keep their parents in the dark about them.
MARGALO is the little bird who befriends Stuart but initially does so only so that she can case the Littles' home. Coerced into stealing Eleanor's ring by the Falcon, she eventually changes her ways and turns out to be good.
SNOWBELL is the family's neurotic, scaredy-cat feline who reluctantly assists Stuart in his rescue mission, but only does so because he knows he'll be blamed for eating the mouse should Stuart not return home.
FALCON plays the malevolent bird of prey who coerces Margalo and threatens harm to her, Stuart and Snowbell.; JONATHAN LIPNICKI plays Stuart's older human brother who reluctantly agrees to tell white lies about Stuart's whereabouts and activities to keep their parents in the dark about them.
MARGALO is the little bird who befriends Stuart but initially does so only so that she can case the Littles' home. Coerced into stealing Eleanor's ring by the Falcon, she eventually changes her ways and turns out to be good.
SNOWBELL is the family's neurotic, scaredy-cat feline who reluctantly assists Stuart in his rescue mission, but only does so because he knows he'll be blamed for eating the mouse should Stuart not return home.
FALCON plays the malevolent bird of prey who coerces Margalo and threatens harm to her, Stuart and Snowbell.; MARGALO is the little bird who befriends Stuart but initially does so only so that she can case the Littles' home. Coerced into stealing Eleanor's ring by the Falcon, she eventually changes her ways and turns out to be good.
SNOWBELL is the family's neurotic, scaredy-cat feline who reluctantly assists Stuart in his rescue mission, but only does so because he knows he'll be blamed for eating the mouse should Stuart not return home.
FALCON plays the malevolent bird of prey who coerces Margalo and threatens harm to her, Stuart and Snowbell.; SNOWBELL is the family's neurotic, scaredy-cat feline who reluctantly assists Stuart in his rescue mission, but only does so because he knows he'll be blamed for eating the mouse should Stuart not return home.
FALCON plays the malevolent bird of prey who coerces Margalo and threatens harm to her, Stuart and Snowbell.; FALCON plays the malevolent bird of prey who coerces Margalo and threatens harm to her, Stuart and Snowbell.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

Here's a quick look at the content found in this PG rated kids film. The rating comes from brief language that includes a possible minor expletive while some colorful phrases are also uttered. Some scatological/bathroom humor and dialogue is present for the kids, various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, and the mother briefly shows some cleavage in her low-cut tops.

The menacing and mean Falcon character and scenes related to him trying to injure or kill other characters could be unsettling, suspenseful or downright frightening to some younger viewers, but that depends on their age, level of maturity and tolerance for and/or past exposure to such material. Some other brief violence is also present as are some topics to talk about (with some kids likely to identify with Stuart and his "growing up" woes and throes).

If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: None.

BLOOD/GORE: Bathroom humor includes Snowbell claiming that he has to go "tinky" and telling Stuart that he's a cat and that they don't go "dropping bombs" all over the place. After Monty tells him how bad the Falcon is, Snowbell then states that he no longer needs a litter box (although we don't see any related activity).
Some comments are also made about being "falcon poop." A character later states, "George doesn't know poop from applesauce." In another scene, Will lies to Mrs. Little about Stuart being in the bathroom and states that he'll probably be in there for a while since he took a magazine with him. Later, when Margalo states that she's "in the can" (a paint can), Snowbell mistakes that for bathroom slang and says he'll wait.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: One of George's soccer teammates briefly belittles the boy's playing abilities to their coach.
The Falcon has both for intimidating, threatening and attempting to harm others, as well as forcing Margalo into crime.
In turn, she has a bad attitude for going along with him (and steals Mrs. Little's ring), although she eventually has a change of mind and heart about stealing.
Stuart gets George to tell white lies about his whereabouts and activities (of trying to find Margalo who he thinks was taken by the Falcon) to their parents. Accordingly, George does and even gets his friend to join him, while Stuart lies to Snowbell to manipulate him into helping Stuart find Margalo.
We see that someone has stolen the tires from Stuart's tiny car and sprayed graffiti on it.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Older kids probably won't find most of the following as anything but pure adventure, but some younger viewers might find some or a great deal of it as unsettling, suspenseful or even downright scary.
Played mostly for adventure, Stuart suddenly finds himself behind the controls of a small biplane that flies out of the house and through the park.
After Margalo falls from the sky into Stuart's car, a large falcon repeatedly swoops down toward them and they try to elude it. That includes driving under a truck and barely avoiding its large back tire.
The Falcon races up behind Margalo in the sky and we see his large talons reaching out for her, but he then just lands and talks to her (albeit in a menacing fashion).
After Mrs. Little believes she's lost her ring down the kitchen sink, Stuart volunteers to be lowered down into it via a string to find the ring. The string then breaks and Stuart seems in trouble as the family frantically searches for more string, but Margalo flies down and saves him.
Stuart rides a helium balloon up to the top of a very tall building where he's been told the Falcon lives (and has been told about how dangerous he is). Stuart then hops off and slowly enters the room as some suspenseful/ominous music plays.
Stuart threatens the Falcon with a bow and arrow if he doesn't tell him where Margalo is. He eventually fires the arrow at him, but it bounces off his beak. The Falcon then grabs Stuart, flies him out over the ledge and drops him from a very tall height (saying he won't hurt him, but the sidewalk will). Margalo tries to save him, but the Falcon grabs her and lets Stuart fall (he ends up landing in a garbage truck and is not permanently hurt, although he's apparently knocked unconscious).
Snowbell then slowly makes his way through the top floor of the building. He eventually tries to hide in a paint can, but the Falcon hits the can and it falls down some steps and then rolls out onto the ledge where it teeters on the edge, many stories above the street. He eventually tries to walk along the ledge with the can still over his head and falls off, only to land on a flagpole. He's eventually knocked from that and falls to ground unhurt, but is nearly hit by a cab's tire just as the cab stops in front of him.
Margalo takes off through the air and the Falcon takes flight and pursues her (we see its talons closing in on her). Stuart saves her in a small biplane he's flying and the Falcon then chases them through the city and park. The Falcon then pierces the top with its talons and rips off that wing, sending Stuart and Margalo plummeting toward the ground in the out of control plane (Stuart eventually regains control and they're okay).
Stuart aims his small biplane at the Falcon and a head-on collision seems inevitable, but Stuart jumps out just in time (with the plane crashing into the bird). His "parachute" is then ripped in half and he falls toward the ground, but Margalo saves him.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Bow & Arrow: What Stuart uses to threaten and then shoot at the Falcon (the arrow just bounces off his beak).

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: What sounded like "A-hole," "You vile buzzard," "Why, you little rat," "George doesn't know poop from applesauce," "I'm going to be falcon poop," "Party's over, fur-face" and "Bye-bye, birdbrain."
Snowbell eats a fly and then belches.

JUMP SCENES: The Falcon's talons suddenly pierce the top wing of Stuart's tiny biplane.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A heavy amount of suspenseful and adventurous music plays in the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 1 possible "ass" is used.

SEX/NUDITY: Mrs. Little occasionally wears some low-cut tops, one of which shows some cleavage.
In a clip from the classic movie "Vertigo," we see Jimmy Stewart kissing Kim Novak.

SMOKING: None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Margalo mentions her mother disappearing when she was little, but we don't know if that's true or just part of her initial lie to Stuart.
Stuart's parents worry about him and are upset with George about lying to them to keep a promise to Stuart.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Mr. Little's comment that every cloud has a silver lining.
Going through the same emotions and problems as Stuart, such as being left out of activities, people being too busy to play or hang out, etc.
Margalo having a change of mind and heart about being the Falcon's accomplice in crime.
The message told to Stuart that you're as big as you feel.
George telling white lies to his parents about Stuart's whereabouts and activities of trying to find Margalo.
After being kicked while on a soccer ball, Stuart jokingly says he's going to have to start wearing a cup (athletic supporter and possible joking about being kicked in the "ball").

VIOLENCE: A young soccer player has the wind knocked out of him when the ball hits him. George then kicks the ball (with Stuart unintentionally going along for the ride on it) that hits another player on the head.
Stuart suddenly finds himself behind the controls of a small biplane that flies out of the house and through the park. It crashes and is damaged, but Stuart is okay.
Margalo falls from the sky and lands in Stuart's car. She appears unconscious and later complains of having a hurt wing (but we later learn both were just an act).
Stuart accidentally falls down some steps but is okay.
A restaurant worker throws Monty from the restaurant and into a dumpster.
Stuart threatens the Falcon with a bow and arrow if he doesn't tell him where Margalo is. He eventually fires the arrow at him, but it bounces off his beak. The Falcon then grabs Stuart, flies him out over the ledge and drops him. Margalo tries to save him, but the Falcon grabs her and lets Stuart fall (he ends up landing in a garbage truck and is not permanently hurt, although he's apparently knocked unconscious).
The Falcon crashes into and through a popcorn cart's glass window.
Stuart aims his small biplane at the Falcon and a head-on collision seems inevitable, but Stuart jumps out just in time (with the plane crashing into the bird, sending it falling dead or unconscious into a trashcan).

Reviewed July 10, 2002 / Posted July 19, 2002

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