Not recommended under 5, PG to 8 (Violence; Scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 5 | Not recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children aged 5-8 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children aged over 8 | 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: | Kung Fu Panda 2 |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild animated violence |
Length: | 90 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Po (voice of Jack Black) is fulfilling his role as the Dragon Warrior, fighting alongside the ‘Furious Five’ – Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogan), Crane (David Cross), Viper (Lucy Lui) and Monkey (Jackie Chan), to protect the people of China. Kung Fu Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) tells Po that his training is almost complete and that he now needs to find his ‘inner peace.’
Po begins to have terrible flashback images of an event that he does not remember and starts thinking about where he really comes from. His father, Mr Ping (James Hong), informs Po that he adopted him when he found him on his doorstep as a baby but does not know how he came to be there.
As Po searches for answers, there is a great evil threatening to take over China. Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) has turned his family’s discovery - fireworks - into firepower in the form of cannon balls. He has gathered an army of wolves and they are armed with the one thing that appears to be able to stop kung fu. It is up to Po and the ‘Furious Five’ to save China, but along the way Po needs to find out who he really is.
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.
Death, separation from parents, adoption, war
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.
Kung Fu Panda 2 contains many violent scenes. Fight scenes throughout the film include kung fu fighting, punches, kicks, swordfights, daggers, flaming arrows, spears, axes, sledgehammers and explosions from cannon balls. It should be noted that this movie is showing in both 3D and 2D versions and that action and fighting scenes in 3D can be very intense for young children. Examples of violence 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.
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.
It is unlikely that any scenes in the movie will scare or disturb children in this age group.
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.
It is unlikely that any scenes in the movie will scare or disturb children in this age group.
None in the movie, but extensive marketing of associated merchandise
There are mild sexual references in this movie, including:
None of concern
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There are some putdowns in this movie, including:
Kung Fu Panda 2 is an action animated sequel to the first Kung Fu Panda movie. The many violent scenes in the movie make it too scary for under 5s and some 5-8s, particularly in the 3D version. Younger children may also imitate some of the violence shown. The main messages from the film are:
Parents may also wish to discuss with their children some of the issues raised by the film, including:
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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