Not recommended under 8; parental guidance 8 to 11 due to violence and scary scenes.
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children 8 to 11 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children aged 11 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: | Lego Batman Movie, The |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild themes and animated violence |
Length: | 104 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
The Lego Batman Movie opens with the Joker (voice of Zach Califianakis) hijacking a cargo plane full of explosives flying over Gotham City; the Joker plans to use the explosives to blackmail Gotham into submission. Along for the ride is an army of Gotham City’s most dangerous villains including Scarecrow, The Riddler, The Penguin, Bane, Two Face, Cat Woman, Poison Ivy, Clay Face and Mr Freeze to name a few. Naturally Batman (voice of Will Arnett) foils the Joker’s plans and saves Gotham.
But the Joker is not Batman’s worst fear. His worst fear involves forming relationships with others; he is afraid of getting close to others and then losing them. To help Batman overcome his fears, Alfred Pennyworth (voice of Ralph Fiennes), coerces Batman into adopting a teenage orphan named Dick Greyson/Robin (voice of Michael Cera), who now becomes his sidekick.
Batman banishes the Joker to the Phantom Zone, a prison for the universe’s worst super villains. However, with the help of Harley Quin (voice of Jenny Slate), the Joker and villains escape.
To defeat the super villains, Batman must learn to work as part of a team and, fortunately, there are others willing to help him.
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.
Superheroes and villains; relationships; diversity
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.
Because the film involves Lego figures, characters and property can be rebuilt after injury and destruction. However, there are some intense battle scenes and dark and sinister moments with threats of violence to favourite characters that might upset younger viewers, for whom the characters are real. Violence includes:
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.
Children in this age group may also be scared by some of the above-mentioned scenes
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.
Some of the younger children in this age group may be scared by some 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.
Nothing of concern
There is some partial nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There are some coarse language, toilet humour and insults in this movie, including:
The Lego Batman Movie is an entertaining animated action comedy which is likely to appeal to Lego fans of all ages and those who enjoyed first Lego film. It is, however, darker and scarier than the first Lego movie so is not recommended for children under 8 with parental guidance recommended for the 8 to 11 age group
The main messages from this movie are:
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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