Not recommended under 13; parental guidance to 14 (frequent comic-book style violence and some coarse language).
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not recommended due to strong and frequent comic-book style violence. |
Children aged 13-14 | Parental guidance recommended due to strong and frequent comic-book style violence. |
Children over the age of 14 | Ok for this age group. |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Aquaman |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Fantasy violence. |
Length: | 143 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Aquaman is the latest DC Extended Universe comic book character to be brought to film. It follows the story of Arthur Curry (Jason Mamoa) who is the love-child of light house keeper Tom Curry (Temuera Morrison) and Atlanna, Queen of Atlantis (Nicole Kidmann). When Arthur is a child, his mother is forced to leave him and his father to return to the underwater city of Atlantis, where she is presumed to have been executed for treason. Although Arthur grows up as a surface dweller, he soon becomes aware that he is a ‘half-breed’ who can breathe and swim like lightning in the ocean. When Arthur is a young teenager, Nuidis Vulko (Willem Dafoe), loyal advisor to Queen Atlanna, secretly seeks out the boy to teach him about his family legacy under the sea and to teach him how to fight and survive under the water. It is Vulco’s hope that one day Arthur will be able to return to Atlantis as its rightful heir. Meanwhile in Atlantis, the current ruler is Orm Marius (Patrick Wilson), who is Arthur’s half-brother. Orm has evil plans to unite all the seven underwater kingdoms and to rise up and attack the ‘surface dwellers’ who are polluting the sea with their mindless consumerism and wasteful habits. Vulco and Princess Mera (Amber Heard) must move quickly to convince Arthur that now is the moment he must challenge Orm for the throne, assert himself as the rightful King of Atlantis and stop the imminent war.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Superheroes; super powers; war; fighting; pollution; sea ecology; myths and legends.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is very frequent (almost constant) comic-book style violence in this movie. It is often performed by an attractive and charismatic hero, has few consequences (not too much blood and gore), and includes violence between different ‘races’ or cultural groups. Some examples include:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Nothing of concern.
There are some mild romantic scenes in this film, but no sexual references of concern. However, parents should be aware of the following:
There is some mild nudity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, as well as some language that has racist overtones. Some examples include:
Aquaman is a completely over the top and cheesy superhero film that pulls out all the clichés. Despite this, the amazing costumes and great underwater CGI scenes are an enjoyable spectacle. Parents should know that there is a lot of violence in this film, so it is not recommended for children under 13.
The main message from this movie is to follow your true destiny, despite what dangers await you in its pursuit.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as.
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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