Not suitable under 15; parental guidance to 15 (strong, graphic animated violence; scary themes, scenes and characters; mature themes)
This topic contains:
Children under 15 | Not suitable due to strong, graphic animated violence, scary themes, scenes, and characters, and mature themes. |
Children aged 15 | Parental guidance recommended due to strong, graphic animated violence, scary themes, scenes, and characters, and mature themes. |
Children aged 16 and over | Ok for this age group, although parental guidance is recommended to 17 due to strong, graphic animated violence, scary themes, scenes, and characters, and mature themes. |
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: | Batman: Soul of the Dragon |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Mature themes and animated violence |
Length: | 82 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Bruce Wayne (voiced by David Giuntoli) has retired his famous Batman cape and mask and is focusing on his family business and charity work. But then he gets a visit from an old acquaintance, Richard Dragon (voiced by Mark Dacascos), who also completed his martial arts training under their Master O-Sensei (voiced by James Hong). Richard asks Bruce for help: Jeffrey Burr (voiced by Josh Keaton), leader of the mystical Kobra Cult, has taken possession of a mystical gate – the only barrier between the earthly world and the evil demon god, Naga. The gate can only be opened with a special sword, the ‘Soul Breaker’, which O-Sensei gave to Shiva (voiced by Kelly Hu), one of his other students, to safeguard. Bruce agrees to put his Batman cape back on. Just as they get to Shiva to warn her, Burr’s cultists attack and manage to steal Soul Breaker. Knowing that they are stronger together than apart, Richard, Bruce and Shiva recruit the last remaining member of their training squad, Ben Turner (voiced by Michael Jai White). Ben helps them to locate Burr at a secret island, but the four heroes must hurry as Burr prepares to open the gate and become Naga’s avatar to take over the world.
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.
Comic animation; Superheroes.
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 a lot of strong and graphic animated violence in this movie, including:
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.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:
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.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:
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.
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Batman: Soul of the Dragon is the latest animated superhero film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. It can be watched as a stand-alone movie with no deep knowledge of the characters or their backgrounds necessary (note: the movie has a cliff-hanger ending). Batman, even though dominantly featured in the title, actually takes a bit of a backseat, the focus is evenly shared with his fellow heroes: Shiva, Ben Turner, and Richard Dragon. The animation style is ‘old school’ and an homage to 70s martial arts film and superhero comics, and there is a good amount of sarcastic humour. The film is likely to entertain a mature, older teenager and adult audience. However, due to strong graphic violence and mature themes it is unsuitable for children under 15 and parental guidance is recommended to 17.
The main messages from this movie are that you are stronger together than apart, and that you can change and decide your destiny.
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
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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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