Legend of the Five, The

image for Legend of the Five, The

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Not suitable under 8; parental guidance to 13 (violence, scary scenes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Legend of the Five, The
  • a review of Legend of the Five, The completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 6 July 2020.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 8 Not suitable due to violence and scary scenes.
Children aged 8–13 Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes.
Children over the age of 13 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: Legend of the Five, The
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild fantasy themes, violence and coarse language.
Length: 96 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

A sorceress (Beth Champion), once the dedicated guardian of the Tree of Life, joins forces with another group who want to ensure the safety of the Tree, in order to save her dying species. Losing her people and losing her sanity, the sorceress becomes obsessed with gaining power from the Tree. Cast out by the others in a bid to protect the Tree, the sorceress spends ages trying to find her way back through portals and enchantments but nothing works. The sorceress manipulates the lives of countless individuals to help her in her quest and many lose their lives in the process as a new guardian, a hideous beast, is now sworn to protect the tree. Her latest, unlikely, cast of five consist of: Zoe (Lauren Esposito) who has just moved back to Australia with her dad after losing her mom to cancer, Kaylee (Deborah An) an angry loner, the nerdy Owen (Leigh Joel Scott) who loves all things academic, the sporty Javier (Nicholas Adrianakos) and pretty and popular Caitlin (Gabi Sproule). The teenagers are on a high school field trip to a museum where they somehow unlock the secrets of an ancient staff and find themselves transported into another world where they must unlock their powers, confront their darkest fears and work together to save themselves from the beast; the Tree from the evil sorceress; and ultimately the future of all mankind.

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.

Death of a parent; magical powers; environmental regeneration; the triumph of good over evil.

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 some violence in this movie including:

  • A monster grabs two young men who are running through the forest trying to get away. They scream and it is assumed they are killed as they are never seen or heard from again.
  • The sorceress blows an angry stream of red and black smoke out of her mouth in an attempt to destroy the force field protecting the Tree.
  • Little goblin creatures repeatedly hit and smack each other. One farts into a fire which causes a small explosion.
  • The beast was stabbed by the staff, which broke off in his chest. Zoe helps him remove it and then collapses herself.
  • The sorceress threatens to kill Zoe and the others if they do not hand over the staff.
  • The sorceress stabs and kills her brother with the staff while he is trying to guard the Tree.

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:

  • The film contains a number of monsters including a violent beast that attacks and kills humans, and an evil, pitch black, creature with long nails, creepy features and an eerie voice that tries to scare the teenagers and appears to explode four of them. The film also contains goblin-like creatures that are like mini henchmen. While these creatures are not particularly menacing, their appearance and cackling laughter may unsettle some young viewers.
  • Zoe appears to be swallowed by a tree only moments before the beast is about to catch her.

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:

  • There are numerous chase scenes through forests, sometimes thick with fog, where people are running for their lives from the beast. There is dramatic music, heavy panting and the people are terrified. Often the scene reverts to a slightly different view of things and movie goers can also see the chase from the perspective of the beast.

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.

  • Nothing further of concern.

Product placement

  • None noted.

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:

  • Occasional use of the term, “Shut up!”

In a nutshell

The Legend of the Five is an Australian-based fantasy film, featuring some excellent makeup artistry and some basic special effects, that is likely to appeal to older children and teen audiences.

The main messages from this movie are that you have to be strong enough to let things go, that these things are never truly gone, and that all things are connected, including life and death.

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

  • Cooperation
  • Helpfulness
  • Compassion
  • Courage
  • Sacrifice
  • Truthfulness.

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

  • Manipulating the lives of others for your own personal gain.
  • Keeping important information from those you should be sharing with.
  • Trusting those who would harm you.