Parents' Guide to

Clockstoppers

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

Fun action comedy with nifty special effects.

Movie PG 2002 93 minutes
Clockstoppers Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 10+

Based on 6 parent reviews

Mfoshee
Mfoshee Parent of 7 and 9-year-old
July 14, 2020
age 13+

Incorrectly rated

I think this should be pg-13. There isn’t cussing but they say something about “naked girls in Vegas” and “making out”. Then there is a scene with a boy lusting over a girl who is wearing a tight shirt . My 9 yo & I stopped watching it half way through.
3 people found this helpful.
cat mom 6
cat mom 6 Adult
January 18, 2020
age 14+

not appropriate for kids under 14

This movie would be just fine for kids except that they show one character looking at a girlie magazine and stroking the picture of the scantily clad girl!!! Totally inappropriate and uncalled for! I would not let a child under 14 watch this.

This title has:

Too much sex
2 people found this helpful.
See all 6 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Zak (Jesse Bradford), the son of a loving but preoccupied scientist, accidentally takes a top-secret device, thinking it is a watch. It turns out to be a mechanism for speeding up the metabolic rate of whoever is touching it so that they see the world around them as almost frozen. To the rest of the world, they are moving too fast to be seen. At first, Zak uses it to impress a pretty girl (Paula Garces as Francesca) and together they have fun with some pranks and pay-backs. But then the bad guys come after them, and Zak and Francesca have to save the world.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (6):
Kids say (6):

This special effects action comedy is fun for kids and fairly painless for adults. More important, it is a rare film directed at kids from 4th-8th grade, that most-neglected of movie audiences. Not surprising, it is produced by Nickelodeon, the cable channel dedicated to just that group.

The plot is a throw-back to the old Disney classics like The Shaggy Dog (also with a pretty teenage girl named Francesca) and The Absent-Minded Professor. Director Jonathan Frakes (of Star Trek) ably handles the sci-fi aspect with special effects that truly are special. We see water droplets suspended in air and a bee floating over a flower. CLOCKSTOPPERS zips along quickly and has a lively pop soundtrack.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the problems of developing technologies that can get into the wrong hands and the problems of balancing commitments to work and family.

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