DVD Review - Labou

Director:  Greg Aronowitz
Starring: Bryan James Kitto, Chris Violette, Barnie Duncan and Marissa Cuevas
Rating: G

What can I say about Labou. Well, it’s definitely for the kids. The story is this: In the early 1800s, Captain LeRouge (Barnie Duncan) aboard his ship along with his crew, disappears into the Louisiana bayou in the middle of a great storm never to be seen again. The story then skips ahead to present day. On the school bus coming home from school, a bully, referred to as The Toddster (Bryan James Kitto), is telling the story or legend as you have it of Captain LeRouge.

The legend has it that the ghost of Captain LeRouge still haunts the swamps searching for his lost treasure. Emily (Marissa Cuevas), along with Gavin (Darnell Hamilton), challenge The Toddster to prove this legend when he claims he has seen the ghost of Captain LeRouge himself. The kids then set out for the swamps in search of proof. When The Toddster, Emily and Gavin reach the plantation where the swamps are, they are quickly chased away by what they think is a ghost. They soon realize it is only someone dressed up as a ghost pirate. Upon this realization, suddenly the real ghost of Captain LeRouge shows up and joins the impostor on chasing the kids into the swamps. When the kids realize they will have to stay the night in the swamp out of fear of the ghost, they encounter a strange musical creature. The creature is Labou, which they refer to as a cross between a monkey and a turtle.

The next morning as the kids, along with Labou, set out to try and get out of the swamps without running into the ghost again, they come across Ronald McDowell (Earl Scioneaux) and Reggie McDowell (Chris Violette) father and son oil tycoons. The kids over hear them making plans to destroy the swamps in search of oil. Afraid for Labou and his home, the kids decide the only way to stop them is to enlist the help of the ghost of Captain LeRouge. In searching for Captain LeRouge, the kids are once again surprised by the impostor ghost. They then learned this imposter’s name is Clayton (Kelson Henderson), and he is actually the great, great, great grandson of Captain LeRouge. Clayton agrees to help the kids in stopping Ronald and his son Reggie at destroying the swamps. After a few attempts at stopping Ronald and Reggie, the kids along with Clayton, realize they cannot over power them and their only hope is to out smart Ronald and Reggie. Clayton, the kids and Labou then set out to find the lost treasure to buy the swamps. It then becomes a race of can Clayton, the kids and Labou find the treasure to buy the swamps before Ronald and his son Reggie completely destroy them.

Labou proves to be a story about finding friendship in unlikely places.  However, Labou comes off as an attempt at a G rated kid friendly version of the popular Pirates of the Carribean movies. If you have younger kids, I would say Labou is a good choice. Unfortunately, if you have a bit older crowd Labou is definitely not a movie I would recommend for them.