Not suitable under 10, parental guidance to 12 (violence, themes, scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 10 | Not suitable due to violence, themes and scary scenes. |
Children aged 10–12 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and themes. |
Children aged 13 and over | 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: | Fantastic Four, The: First Steps |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild science fiction themes, violence and coarse language |
Length: | 114 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
In a 1960’s inspired, futuristic world the Fantastic Four are celebrated as global heroes. Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) went into space as the bravest and brightest of astronauts and returned home as superheroes after surviving a space storm that altered their DNA and gave them superpowers that they use to protect and serve humanity. When Sue finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, Reed could not be more thrilled and he sets out to baby-proof the world, making it as safe as possible for his unborn son. Just as police launch an attack to neutralise the numerous criminal gangs Reed has been tracking in the lead up to his child’s birth, an unprecedented threat arrives in the form of a Silver Surfer called Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner), who warns the Fantastic Four of Galactus (voice of Ralph Ineson) – a planet devouring, cosmic entity who is determined to destroy the earth. The Fantastic Four track Shalla-Bal and follow her to a distant galaxy where they encounter and attempt to negotiate with Galactus. Sensing a strong power in their unborn child, he offers Sue and Reed a deal: he will leave the planet in peace but they must give him their son. They refuse and flee, trying to outmanoeuvre Shalla-Bal as they attempt to return to Earth, while Sue delivers baby Franklin (Ada Scott). Faced with their imminent demise, the people of Earth begin to turn on one another and turn against the Fantastic Four who refused to sacrifice the baby. Introducing Franklin to the world and talking about the importance of family strikes a universal chord and the nations unite to build a series of bridges which Reed believes will teleport the Earth out of the reach of Galactus as he draws ever closer in his quest to get Franklin. It appears to be the only option but at the last minute they discover another option, though one that may cost more than they bargained for.
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.
Sacrifice; Alien threats; Fear of the unknown; Destruction of planets; Impending death.
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 some 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.
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
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:
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a retro-futuristic, superhero film from Marvel studios, based on the comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The film features some powerful messages about family and community, and the possibility of what can be accomplished through global unity. It is best suited to audiences over the age of 12.
The main messages from this movie are that nothing is more important than family; and that family is about connecting to something bigger than each of us individually, it is something to fight for, something to sacrifice for, and it is ultimately a foundation that can change the world.
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 the importance of holding fast to our humanity no matter what chaos the world falls into, or how dire the latest news story might be.
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
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Content is age appropriate for children this age
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Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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