American Girl: Lea to the Rescue [Blu-ray]

WARNING: This American Girl movie needs to be watched and talked about together or not watched at all.Lea did a number of things she knew her mother and others didn't want her to and it worked out well in the end.Seldom does this happen in real life, but seldom is a person a hero by keeping them self safe. A hero is someone that sees there are some things worth taking some risk. Why not call the police a number of them said, but her brother seemed to act like he didn't trust his work mates or the police. I picked that up when he told her. It is one of the frustrations of our days. Police have a quota of tickets they must pass out on top of their other duties. Our police forces are run with profit and loss equal to service to the public and their hands are tied in so many ways. I knew this at ten and it's worse now then then. Lea is a good kid who loves her parents. That love restrains her to a point but when that love is threatened she will not be stopped from her goal. Most of the American Girl movies are about the changes of growing up. This one is too, it's about deciding to do what is right for you regardless of the norm.First off let me say I've got all the American Girl movies, including digital ones of the two shorts of late. I've been into them since my girl was 9. She's 17 now. LOL. We wait eagerly for the next movie because so far we have had our own adventures with every one of them. We have used every one of the movies as a chance to grow and bond. Be it Cooking cupcakes or visiting the space and rocket Center or seeing old Jamestown it was time together that we will hold on to, for the rest of our lives.This one was different.I understood Lea like no other American Girl. The same complains I hear from the people that didn't like the movie I heard about me.And Lea had the same problem I had, no body listened when she talked. The adults wanted Lea to listen to them and be safe but no body listened to her. I heard people say she didn't respect and stay safe. I say she did respect that's why she told them. They didn't respect her by listening and having been Lea I can tell you it made me do just the sort of thing she did,run off on my own and do it myself. Was it not Samantha's Grandmeir that said, "It takes two to speak the truth, One to speak and the other to hear."?I think you need to sit down and talk with your child or children if and when they watch this film. Make sure they know what she did could lhave gotten her and her brothers girlfriend killed as well as the whole tribe of natives. That my friends is not good.

We anxiously awaited the arrival of this movie: we had bought the Lea doll on New Year's Day when she was released. She is beautiful, as are her outfits. My daughter was really hoping this movie would extend the Lea storyline from the books. While many of Lea's outfits are shown here in the movie, like her hiking outfit, pajamas, and celebration dress, we didn't see the big ticket items like the beach house or fruit stand. I'd think that American Girl would want to throw these into the movie for sales purposes. And how cool would it have been for Lea to have thqt beach house in the movie? We were hoping that maybe they'd have some kind of awesome storyline where they showed up (maybe a big sale at the fruit stand to help finance a failing animal conservation group). Still, how many kids are going to be so excited to point out that there are mathcing kid/doll outfits for this girl of the year doll? I heard the squeals as we watched the movie: "Oooh! Look! Lea's pajamas! I have those for my doll, but they must make big ones too! I NEED those!" Wow, thanks, American Girl.My daughter kept saying that the actress playing Lea didn't really look like what she had pictured--the doll is very tan and this girl is very pale in comparison, Thankfully, her spunky presonality shines through. We were a bit concerned about Lea's snippy/rotten attitude. The eye rolling and backtalk were things that are no-no's here and I heard audible gasps from my daughter a few times when Lea sassed adults.My daughter LOVED this movie. I found it to be hokey and very unbelievable (really--a tribe out in the Amazon rainfirest that just happens to speak English? What kind of people go running into a rainforest to catch "bad guys" with no plans or supplies? And why is a kid in charge of making life or death decisions?). It just didn't add up.If you're okay with watching sassy little girls defy the rules and be rude to adults, then I guess this is the movie for you. I think the older movies (Kit, Chrissa, and Felicity, just to name a few) are much better productions and have valuable lessons to learn about friendship and family. The best part about this dvd was that it came with a coupon for American GirlL $10 off a $100 purchase.

I know a lot of people will be shocked by my rating but honestly I dont agree with the other comments. Lea had bratty moments but she had an excuse her brother was missing. I personally think Saige and Isabelle were much bigger brats in their movies than Lea was (and this is coming from someone who did not like Lea or her collection from the second she was released). Lea and Zac's realtionship was really sweet and I found the characters likeable especially sweet Aqui. I liked the story it might not have been that realstic but it kept me wanting to know what will happen next. It is not the best GOTY movie (I think that spot still lies with Chrissa) but I did enjoy it more than Saige's and Isabelle's.