Not recommended under 8, PG to 13 (Violence and scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children 8 - 13 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children 13 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: | Oz the Great and Powerful |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild fantasy violence and some scary scenes |
Length: | 130 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Oz the Great and Powerful, the latest prequel to the Wizard of Oz, tells the fantasy adventure of Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time magician whose life has been founded on trickery, lies and manipulation. After being hurled from his home world into the vibrant land of Oz, he believes he has stumbled upon a goldmine. He is told by villagers of a prophecy in which he is to be King, and entitled to claim all the riches bestowed upon him. His life gets increasingly more complicated as he meets three beautiful witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams).
Despite the initial attraction between Oscar and Theodora, the beautiful witch is transformed into an old hag after her sister, the evil Evanora, manipulates her into believing that Oscar has fallen for another woman. The result is a dangerous battle of good versus evil that sees Evanora and Theodora on a tyrannical rampage to murder both Oscar and Glinda in an effort to claim the throne as their own. Although Oscar has no intrinsic magical powers, the final battle sees him use his old tricks and illusions to transform himself into not only the great and powerful Wizard of Oz, but also a man of decency and integrity.
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.
The supernatural; self-acceptance and self-belief; good versus evil
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 limited (mostly fantasy) violence in this movie, including:
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 are also very likely to be disturbed by 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.
Children in this age group may also 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.
Children in this age group are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film
None of concern
There are a few sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some sexual activity in this movie, including:
None of concern
None of concern
Oz the Great and Powerful Oz is the story of how a small-time magician became the “Wizard of Oz”. It is a story of friendship, love and personal growth. It tells the fantasy adventure of Oscar and his friends as they struggle against the odds to defeat two evil witches, but also follows Oscar’s development as a man. Learning the meaning of responsibility and integrity, Oscar unintentionally becomes what he has always thought of as impossible – not only a great man, but also a good one. As can be expected in a film featuring the supernatural and evil witches, the film’s fantasy violence and scary characters make it unsuitable for under 8s and parental guidance is recommended for under 13s. At 130 minutes, it is also a very long film for children to sit through.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
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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