Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back

image for Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back

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Not suitable under 5; parental guidance to 7 (violence, scary scenes, themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back
  • a review of Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 4 March 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 5 Not suitable due to violence, scary scenes and themes.
Children aged 5–7 Parental guidance recommended due to violence and themes.
Children aged 8 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

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: Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes
Length: 81 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Maggie Diggins (voice of Deborah Mailman), aka Combat Wombat, and her sidekick Sweetie (Ed Oxenbold), a sugar glider aka Gallant Glider, have become the heroes of Sanctuary City for saving a life. Now, however, with no crime in the city, they offer their services to anyone who needs help – though Maggie didn’t think this would involve babysitting, shopping and cleaning, which causes her to rethink her role as a superhero. That is until a crime wave of robberies starts, apparently committed by senior members of the community. Behind the nefarious activities, however, is Lenny Glick (David Wenham), an IT genius who has invented a virtual reality world called, ‘Sanctuary +’. He is taking over the citizens by implanting them with an ear piece, which transposes them into his virtual world. Maggie and Sweetie now have their work cut out, trying to prevent Lenny from trapping the whole city in his virtual alternative world.

Themesinfo

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.

Alternative Reality; Virtual Reality; IT Dystopia; Loss of a partner.

Use of violenceinfo

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 quite a lot of violence in this movie, including:

  • Maggie gets hit by a car but is unhurt.
  • A house is on fire.
  • Maggie flies through the air trying to save a baby echidna and they both fall to the ground.
  • Sweetie gets very angry and sets everything on fire.
  • Maggie throws an object at someone.
  • The baby echidna hits Sweetie on the nose.
  • Skylar kicks Sweetie.
  • A koala hits Maggie with a stick.
  • A rocket crashes near Maggie and Sweetie and then smashes through a glass window.
  • Maggie attacks a character and pulls out his white eye.
  • Maggie and friends fight the multiple Lennies, who just disintegrate.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

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:

  • Sweetie looks menacing and threatens the crowd by saying, “we will hunt you down if you are bad”.
  • Characters are seen with glowing white eyes.
  • Maggie and friends walk through a prison where the power has gone out – it is dark and has an eerie glow.
  • Many characters are seen turned to statues.
  • Lenny multiplies himself into hundreds of him.

Aged five to eightinfo

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:

  • The police arrest a grandfather echidna, Reginald. They put handcuffs on him and call him a ‘dirt bag’, and they threaten him with the electric chair.
  • The baby echidna screams for her grandfather when he’s taken away by the police.
  • Characters seem to electronically disintegrate. Electricity zaps through their bodies and they de-pixelate.
  • Reginald is seen chained to a revolving door, protesting against an online app.
  • A character turns his walking frame into a rocket, sets it alight with a cigarette lighter and blasts off into the sky, setting buildings on fire as he goes.
  • Maggie gets trapped in Sanctuary + and Lenny takes over her by implanting a device in her ear. She then goes back to the real world as a robot, while the real Maggie is still trapped.
  • Larry is seen walking hand in hand with another male lizard. The other lizard is seen nurturing an egg, which we later know to be Skylar, the wayward teenager. When Skylar sees him she calls him Papa, showing she has 2 dads. They all have a group hug and Lenny and his partner have an extra warm hug. Ultimately, the partner dies and Lenny is intent on creating a virtual world so he can re-create his partner.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

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:

  • Lenny is grieving the death of his partner, which is what inspires him to build an alternative universe, one in which he can recreate his partner and, together with their wayward teenage daughter Skylar, become a family again.
  • Skylar is sent to do community service with Maggie and Sweetie for vandalising a store.
  • Skylar tells Sweetie that all her life everyone’s given up on her, all her teachers and carers, etc.

Thirteen and overinfo

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 further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • ‘Jay-Bird’ Hi-Fi (similar to JB Hi-Fi)
  • Adidas symbols.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

  • None noted.

Use of substances

  • None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Geez
  • Bummer
  • Name calling such as:
    • Dirt bag.

In a nutshell

Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back is an Australian animation movie that is full of cute Australian animals (and some not so cute). However, the movie is fast paced and the plot is much too complex for young children to follow. It is therefore not suitable for children under 5 and parental guidance is recommended for children aged 5 to 7.

The main messages from this movie are that the small things make the biggest difference; and that you don’t have to be a superhero to be a hero.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Teamwork
  • Friendship
  • The importance of family
  • Generosity of spirit.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Maggie and Sweetie are well intentioned but they do resort to violence to solve problems. Parents could discuss other means of solving conflict.