Not recommended under 13, PG to 15 (Violence; Disturbing scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not recommended due to violence and scary scenes and characters |
Children aged 13 to 15 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children 15 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: | Hobbit: The desolation of Smaug, The |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Fantasy violence |
Length: | 161 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
This is the second instalment of a three part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. The film begins as a flashback with and the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) convincing Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) to go on a quest to the Lonely Mountain and reclaim from the dragon Smaug a powerful gem called the Arkenstone. This would enable Thorin to reclaim his heritage and reunite the dwarf people.
Twelve months later Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Gandalf, Thorin and Thorin’s company of twelve dwarves are being pursuit through the mountains by a pack of bloodthirsty orcs. In a bid to escape, the dwarves seek refuge in the abode of Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt), a skin changer who has the ability to transform into a gigantic bear. After gaining assistance from Beorn, the company continues on to Mirkwood forest where Gandalf leaves the group.
In Mirkwood forest Bilbo and the dwarves are first attacked by giant spiders and then captured by wood elves, who are led by Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and a female elf warrior named Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly). Bilbo and the dwarves are imprisoned by the elf king Thranduil (Lee Pace), but with the use of the One Ring Bilbo is able to free them and they escape down a raging river in wine barrels while being pursued by both elves and orcs.
The dwarves make their way to Laketown where they are befriended by a bowman named Bard (Luke Evans), who happens to be the descendant of the original Lord of Dale. With Bard’s assistance, Bilbo and the dwarves eventually make it to the Lonely Mountain where they gain access to the mountain through a secret door. However, when Bilbo attempts to steal the Arkenstone from Smaug the dragon (voice of Benedict Cumberbatch) things go terribly wrong.
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.
Destiny; prophesy; greed; fantasy
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.
The film contains intense fantasy action violence and peril throughout, including numerous decapitations, throat cuttings, impalements and stylised sword and knife fights. The violence is, however, less intense than in the Lord of the Rings trilogy with less depiction of blood and gore. 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 many scenes and characters 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 in this age group will also be disturbed by the violent and scary scenes and characters described above and by:
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 in this age group are also likely to be disturbed by many of the above-mentioned scenes
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.
Younger children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes.
No product placement in the film, but merchandise including clothing, video games, dolls and Lego toys is marketed to children.
The film contains a couple of covert sexual references. Examples include:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
The film contains some occasional name calling which children may imitate. Examples include:
The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug is a fantasy adventure film targeting older teens and fans of Tolkien’s books. It is the second film in the trilogy based on The Hobbit. The film goes beyond Tolkien’s original story, containing both characters and storyline not contained in the original book. It is 161 minutes long but easily entertains an older audience for this time.
While not as dark as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the film does contain numerous scary scenes, characters and images, and extended scenes of intense violence, including decapitations and a battle with giant spiders. For this reason, it is not recommended for under 13s, even those who have read the book, and parental guidance is recommended for the 13-15 age group.
The main messages from this movie are:
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include courage and friendship.
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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