Parental guidance under 8 (Scary stuff)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Due to the level of scariness, some children under 8 could need some parental guidance. |
Children over the age of 8 | Children over 8 would be okay to see this movie with or without parental guidance. |
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: | Shrek 2 |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mature themes |
Length: | 92 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Shrek and Fiona return blissfully from their honeymoon to receive an invitation from the King and Queen, Fiona’s parents, to the Palace in the Kingdom of Far Far Away so that they can meet her new groom and celebrate their marriage. Shrek has grave misgivings about going, but on Fiona’s insistence they head off to Far Far Away, with Donkey in tow. The King and Queen are of course horrified to meet Shrek but the Queen manages to persuade King Harold to at least give him a chance.
The wicked Fairy Godmother is dismayed to learn that Fiona has married as she had plans for her own son, Prince Charming, to marry her and inherit the throne. She therefore assembles her threatening bodyguards to ‘persuade’ Harold to get rid of Shrek so that Fiona will be free to marry Prince Charming. Together they plot Shrek’s downfall and enlist the help of Puss in Boots to get rid of him.
When that fails they devise another plan aided by the fact that Shrek has managed to steal some of Fairy Godmother’s ‘Happily Ever After’ potion. Shrek and Donkey both drink the potion which turns Shrek into a handsome man and Donkey into a gallant stallion. Fiona meanwhile has also drunk some and is turned back into a girl but is unaware of the new Shrek. Fairy Godmother uses this to her advantage and tries to infiltrate Prince Charming as the new Shrek. This results in some very interesting situations and Fiona is left with having to make the decision of who she really wants to be.
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 comic violence in this movie, all done for laughs:
There is a little violence that is not comic:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
Children in this age group, particularly preschoolers, might be scared by the above scenes and by the appearance of Shrek and Fiona who are green ogres. In one scene Shrek growls fiercely at a dog. The following scenes might also scare children in this age group:
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 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 would not be scared by this movie.
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 would not be scared by this movie.
None of concern
There is some mild sexual innuendo and the Ugly Stepsister, who is a transvestite, falls for Prince Charming.
There is no nudity or sexual activity.
There is some drinking at the inn.
Also there is drinking of potions which change people and their desires.
There is occasional use of the word ‘bloody’.
The take home message is that a person’s worth lies in his or her character rather than their appearance.
Values parents may wish to encourage include:
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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