The Parent Trap II

Just about any 80's kid who had the Disney channel remembers this movie with great fondness...this was one of my favorite movies, and my sister and I loved to watch it over and over. I wanted to BE Nikki and Mary...I wanted their clothes, their bikes, their rooms, their parents...they even made me want to go to summer school! (Sort of.) Watching the movie always takes me back to when I was 8 years old and a big fan of the "Parent Trap" movies (I saw the original first). This is a great movie to watch as a kid (especially when you're a girl) since it shows the kids trying to control their parents' destinies by scheming to get them together. It's always fun to watch a movie where the kids are in control, instead of the parents!

As for the movie itself, it's a cute and fun sequel to the popular original, but don't expect a movie in the same caliber. This was a made-for-the Disney Channel-movie, after all. And since it's told through the point of view of the kids, it's clearly targeted to a pre-teen audience. Keeping this in mind, you should enjoy the film once you realize that it's completely different than the original in terms of production value, writing, setting, plot, you name it. Fans of Hayley Mills should get a kick out of seeing her reprise her role as the famous twins 25 years later.

I've always had a soft-spot for this movie. I can't remember a time when I didn't know the original "The Parent Trap." My father is so in love with Hayley Mills that I just barely escaped being named Hayley - in fact, if you want the truth - had my last name not also begun with an "H" it's very likely that it would be my name.

Anyway, growing up with a father who is THAT devoted to Hayley Mills, there's no way I could avoid watching this. I saw it the first time it came on in 1986, when I was four years old. No, it's not as good as the original, but I always liked it. It's really cute. The script is well-written. Yes, it borders on the ridiculous, but - HELLO - you want to tell me that "The Parent Trap" doesn't? Nah, they're both unlikely stories, held together by the wonderful Hayley Mills.

Tom Skirrett does a wonderful job, and as a child of the '80s, I can't help but mention the two young stars who actually do turn in wonderful performances. First there's little Brigette Andersen - a beautiful little girl (those of us who were kids in the '80s will remember her as Gretel from Faerie Tale Theatre) who sadly, passed away in 1997. And then there's sweet Carrie Kei Heim - who will always be best known to me as Cornelia in "Santa Claus." A spunky red-head who's surprisingly, a very good actress - even if she does look nothing like Hayley Mills. Well, despite its 1980s-made-for-TV-look (there's even a reference to Ralph Macchio - God save us!) I still love this movie, and I always will.

Talk about a bad sequel. Don't see this film-then again you probably can't. It was a made for TV film, and I have only seen it aired late at night on the Disney channel since. Bad script...bad acting... bad movie... stay with the original. 1/5 stars--

JOHN ULMER

Sentiment of Parent Trap Tell the truth I am not interested in this film in the first instance since I thought it was a comedy, I don¡¯t like comedy very much. But the film attracted me gradually when I aware the deep-seated meaning in the film¡the firmly reins of a family. A pair of clever twins, a kind father and a beautiful mother, what a perfect family it was. But then what a pity it was. The parents devoiced and the twins were separated. Lucky, god didn¡¯t forget this poor family. The twins met each other in a summer camp. There was a charm between these two sisters. From warring to friendly the girls came through a rough course. They decided to help their parents be together again. Two sisters made some chances for the parents even there was not easy. But they success because they are twins, they looked the same! People always confused. In fact, there was love still existed between there parents so when they met each other they went hot and cold. They want to know more about the other side but they didn¡¯t dare. The twins played such an important part to help them. Finally, the four persons rebuilt their sweet family. What attracted me is the firmly reins of the family. When I saw the sweet smiles on the twins¡¯ faces, I felt how luck they are. They could rebuild a sweet family but in the real¡life how many children live in a broken family? They just could live with their father or mother and step¡mother or step¡father. Who could take care of their feeling? They might think they were cast away. It is reported that most of the juvenile delinquency were made by the children whose parents were devoice. China arrested 69,780 juvenile delinquents in 2003, up 12.7 percent over 2002, according to the Supreme People's Court, accounting for 9.1 percent of the total criminal suspects arrested. Family, school and society form the environment where the minors live and the reason why youngsters tend to do illegal things is because there is something wrong with at least one of the three elements. In the most common risk factor is the demise of the family life and the increase in family violence. Between 1976 and 1992 the number of juveniles living in poverty grew 42% and this caused an increase in

crimes by juveniles. Many of these juvenile criminals have been abused

or neglected and they also grew up in a single-parent household. What kind of person the twins would be if they still live in a broken family? When the parents decided to devoiced whether they thought more about their children. The twins was so lucky that they lived with their sweet parents again, I could imagine that their happy life in the future.

It is so important to give a child a sweet family. Let us give more concern to those children. Try our best to built a happy life for them, they also could live a bright life as the twins in the parent trap.

OK, so looking back on this movie now that I'm an adult, I realize it is probably not the most quality movie I have ever seen. But as a kid, I loved it. I taped it off of the Wonderful World of Disney and watched it over and over. There are some very funny lines, and I love how the maid is nosy, just like in the first movie. But my main problem is how can Haley Mills, a blond, have a daughter who's a red head? If you loved the first Parent Trap, see the sequel, just so you can know what happens to Susan and Sharon once they're all grown up.

Favorite line: "All right, but he's really cute. For a minute I thought he was Ralph Machio."