Not recommended under 10, PG to 13 (Violence, scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 10 | Not recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children 10-13 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children 14 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: | Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Fantasy themes and violence |
Length: | 119 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
This movie is based on a series of children’s books by Rick Riordan. It opens with Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) appearing out of the sea and making his way to a meeting with Zeus (Sean Bean). Zeus is angry because he believes that Poseidon’s son has stolen his lightning bolt. Poseidon is given an ultimatum: his son has 14 days to return the lightning bolt or there will be war.
Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is having trouble at school. He is dyslexic and has been diagnosed with ADHD. Home is not much better. He loves his mother, Sally (Catherine Keener) but hates his stepfather who is a beer drinking bully who has no respect for her. Percy is happiest in water where he feels relaxed and can think, and he often spends time sitting on the bottom of a swimming pool.
Percy’s whole world is suddenly turned
upside down with a visit to a museum of ancient history. His substitute teacher
calls him into a room to discuss something and then turns into a monster and
attacks him, trying to retrieve the lightning bolt of which Percy has no
knowledge. Percy is rescued by his school friend Grover (Brandon T. Jackson),
who is on crutches, and also by wheelchair-bound teacher, Mr Brunner (Pierce
Brosnan). Percy now discovers that his father is the Greek god, Poseidon, which
makes him a demigod. Grover turns out to be a satyr who is, in fact, his
protector and Mr Brunner is a centaur. Grover and Percy’s mother take him to
Camp Half Blood where there are others like him so he can be kept safe and
trained for his life as a demigod. On the way they are attacked by minotaurs
and Sally is seized.
At the camp Percy meets Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), the daughter of the
Athena. The camp is visited by Hades (Steve Coogan) who kidnapped Percy’s
mother and offers to exchange her for the missing lightning bolt.
Percy, accompanied by Annabeth and Grover, then sets out on a quest to rescue
to his mother and prevent war between the gods.
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.
Greek mythology; separation from a parent
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 frequent violence in this movie, much of it involving fantasy beings and the main characters. Examples include:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the violence described above, the atmosphere of much of the film is dark and suspenseful and there are many images of transformations, scary fantasy beings and settings which are likely to disturb children, including
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 likely to be disturbed by the scenes described above
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 scenes described above
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.
Most children in this age group are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
None of concern
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language, including;
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is a fantasy adventure story based on Greek Mythology but brought into the 21st Century. It is likely to appeal to fans of the book series and teenagers.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their
children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
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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