Parents' Guide to Pets on a Train

For a film about an out-of-control high-speed train, this animated action comedy is pretty pedestrian. Of course, that may be a good thing for families with young kids. With live-action director Jean-Christian Tassy behind the scenes, Pets on a Train has all the elements of an intense action-adventure, just without the intensity. For example, two characters dangle off the end of a train car over an abyss, not too unlike a heart-stopping scene in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One—and yet the danger is delivered with a softness that means most kids won't truly feel scared.

While the story is set around Christmas, it's tough to call this a Christmas movie, as it doesn't connect to the usual themes of the season. Really, the holiday is just the catalyst for Falcon to stage a heist so that he can serve a feast to his hungry neighbors. (To pay off the holiday angle, there's a brief scene of the out-of-control locomotive speeding toward "Santa," who jumps to safety just in time.) That doesn't really add up—and nor does the unexplained subplot about a child who's traveling alone, so unsupervised that she jumps into a helicopter with news reporters. Still, kids won't notice these story gaps. Brisk and buoyant, Pets on a Train is ultimately good enough for a family watch or a worry-free diversion to keep kids occupied while parents steal time for a breather.