This is an odd production. Some of this project is polished, while other parts are amateurish. The cons outweigh the pros. Cutting to the chase, I don't recommend this film. You have a finite amount of time on Earth - and if you want to spend it watching movies, there are much better ones out there.

The star of the show is Gibson, even if he's cast in a supporting role. Mel Gibson and Lorraine Bracco are good. Why are they slumming here? Patrick Renna does well in what appears to be novelty casting, although he may be too good (at being creepy). He didn't fit. Mason Thames did well in Black Phone, but here - not so much. None of the young actors here are presented well. A lot of this is on the director coupled with lazy subpar writing.

Except for Kevin James. He deserves his own paragraph. The antithesis of Gibson and Bracco, he appears to have expended extra effort in turning in a predicably terrible performance. Why cast him? He distracts and annoys in the two scenes he's in. The seemingly untalented James (based on decades on his work) won the lottery with The King of Queens and has done nothing with it but embarrassingly ride it out for as long as he can with as little effort as possible. I'd say may be he makes up for it by being a good human, but much of what I've read, which may not be accurate (although it's been consistent for decades), present him as an unpleasant entitled schmuck who punches down.

Outside of the direction, the real criminal here is the terrible writing. Content is king. Why do bad scripts continue to get produced? It seems no one will ever learn. Some of the story isn't bad, but the most interesting elements aren't explored and several don't seem suited for a children's film (or would require good writing and finesse, neither of which are present here). The story sets up realistic scenarios for good follows through on none of them - It back peddles and negates every potential good outcome for easy and poorly executed tripe. Just awful. Some of the plot is heavy and is mismanaged to such a degree that it seems exploitative. Not kosher.

As an aside, films deserve no slack secondary to their intended audience. People rationalize and make excuses for poor products because they're "for younger people". No. That's a false equivalency and stupid. If you're making something, make it good. The best you can.