Not suitable under 12, PG to 15 (Violence: Scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 12 | Not suitable due to violent and scary scenes |
Children 12-15 | Parental guidance recommended due to violent 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: | Man of Steel |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Science fiction violence |
Length: | 143 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
The film Man of Steel, about the origins of Superman, begins on the doomed planet Krypton with the birth of a baby boy named Kal-El. This is the first natural birth to have occurred in centuries with Kal-El’s mother Lara (Ayelet Zurer) and father Jor-El, (Russell Crowe) having committed a number of crimes to achieve the birth of their son. Unhappy with Krypton’s leaders, a number of the planet’s warrior cast lead by General Zod (Michael Shannon) attempt a coup, at the height of which Jor-El is killed. The coup fails, Zod and his followers are imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and Krypton self destructs, but first Lara saves her baby by sending him on a spacecraft to the distant planet Earth.
We next see Kal-El as a grown man called Clark Kent, the adopted son of Jonathon (Kevin Costner) and Matha (Diane Lane) Kent. Clark has kept his special powers hidden from the world for the past thirty three years, although investigative journalist Lois Lane (Amy Adams almost uncovers his secret.
Circumstances change drastically for Clark when he discovers an ancient Kryptonian scout ship buried in the ice in Canada. Clark now discovers his true identity, but also sets off a homing beacon that leads a revengeful Zod, who has escaped from the Phantom Zone, to Earth.
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.
Super powers; Alien beings; Revenge
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.
Man of Steel contains intense sequences of science fiction action violence, occasional brutal, including the depiction of some deaths and some 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 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 particularly 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.
Children in this age group are also likely to be disturbed 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.
Younger children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes
Includes Nikon cameras
The film contains one sexual reference.
There is some sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
The film contains some coarse language (some of which is spoken by school children) and name calling. Examples include:
Man of Steel is a superhero action adventure targeting adolescent and adult males, and particularly fans of Superman films and comics. It is darker than previous Superman films and has a similar feel to the Dark Knight films, although not quite as dark. While the film is likely to entertain target groups with almost non-stop action, the running time of nearly two and a half hours is perhaps longer than it needs to be. The film’s scary characters and many violent and disturbing scenes are likely to terrify younger children and it is not recommended for under twelves, with parental guidance recommended for 12 to 15 year olds. The scary scenes are more intense in the 3D version
Several characters in the film demonstrate selflessness. For example, both of Superman’s fathers gave their lives to protect the people they loved and Lois risks her life several times to save Superman. Throughout the film Superman used his powers selflessly to protect humanity and the message that one’s powers and talents should be used for good comes through strongly.
Parents may wish to discuss the real life implications of the dilemma faced by Superman when he was placed in the position of either having to kill a fellow Kryptonian or allowing the Kryptonian to murder an Earth family.
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