Not recommended under 13; parental guidance 13 to 15, due to frequent violence and scary scenes and characters
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not recommended due to frequent violence and scary scenes and characters |
Children 13 to 15 | Parental guidance recommended due to frequent violence 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: | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the shadows |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Fantasy violence |
Length: | 112 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
This film follows on from the 2014 TMNT film in which the evil villain Shredder was imprisoned after being defeated by the Turtles. In the new film we find the Turtles, Michelangelo (Noel Fisher), Donatello (Jeremy Howard), Leonardo (Peter Plaszek), and Raphael (Alan Ritchson) still hiding out in the shadows of the city’s underground sewer system. The Turtles stay out of sight by day while doing their vigilante work by night, as well as keeping their friend April O’Neil (Megan Fox) out of harm’s way.
Although Shredder ( Brian Tee) is still in prison, April has discovered that a scientist by the name of Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) has been secretly working for Shredder. Stockman plans to break Shredder out of prison while he is being transferred to a new prison. April tells the Turtles about Shredder’s plans but, even with the help of newcomer Casey Jones (Stephen Anell), they are unable to stop Shredder when he uses a teleportation device to make his escape.
The teleportation device does not work exactly as planned and Shredder is transported to another dimension where an alien super-villain named Krang (voice of Brad Garrett) convinces Shredder to assemble a teleportation device on Earth so that Krang can bring through an alien weapon that will allow Krang and Shredder to rule the world.
It is up to the Turtles, April and Casey Jones to stop Krang from building his doomsday machine and destroying the planet.
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; mutants; alternate realities; weapons of mass destruction
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.
The film contains action violence throughout. There are many scenes of stylised fighting with punches and kicks to the head, chest and body and the film shows very few realistic consequences of the violence - no death, injury, blood and gore are depicted. 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 scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under eight, 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 group are also likely to be scared 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 group may also 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.
Younger children in this age group may also be scared by some of the above-mentioned scenes
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
There is also plenty of associated merchandise being marketed to young children.
The film contains occasional low-level sexual innuendo. Examples include:
There is some partial nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
The film contains some low-level coarse language and name calling that children may imitate throughout. Examples include:
There is also toilet humour involving flatulence and nose-picking
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the shadows is the latest fantasy action adventure featuring the popular foursome. It is best suited to teen and adult fans of the series but is likely to attract younger children who like the associated toys. The film is not recommended for children under 13 and parental guidance is recommended for the 13 to 15 age group. It contains very frequent violence and scary scenes and characters. Because of this violence, it was originally classified M by the Australian Classification Board but, following an appeal, the Classification Review Board determined that the film should be classified PG.
The positive messages from this movie are about teamwork and acceptance of diversity, but the constant use of violence without showing realistic consequences also gives a very mixed message about the use of violence as a solution to problems. Parents may wish to discuss this with their children.
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Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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