Not recommended under 12; parental guidance 12-14 (Violence; Disturbing scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 12 | Not recommended due to violence and disturbing scenes |
Children 12 to 14 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and disturbing scenes |
Children aged 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: | Tomorrowland |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild science fiction violence and coarse language |
Length: | 130 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
The year is 1964 and 12-year-old genius Frank Walker (Thomas Robinson) is at the New York World’s Fair to enter his rocket powered jet pack in an inventors’ competition. Frank meets an intriguing young girl called Athena (Raffey Cassidy). When Athena tells Frank that she is the future and that he should follow her, he does exactly what he is told and follows Athena into a theme park ride. At some point during the ride, Frank finds himself transported to an alternate dimension somewhere in time and space called Tomorrowland where hover cars and rocket ships are the norm.
The film moves to the present where we find teenage activist Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) trying to stop the demolition of an old NASA launch platform, the decommissioning of which will cost Casey’s father his job. Unfortunately things do not go as planned for Casey who is arrested and placed in custody.
When Casey is bailed she discovers an old World’s Fair badge amongst her possessions, and on touching the badge, finds herself transported to a futuristic world. While attempting to find out more about her strange badge, Casey is held at gunpoint by a couple who want the badge. Fortunately Casey is rescued by Athena, the same young girl who led Frank to Tomorrowland decades earlier. Athena takes Casey to meet the now adult Frank Walker (George Clooney), who we learn during the course of the film was evicted from Tomorrowland for creating an invention that had catastrophic consequences for both Tomorrowland and Earth.
Casey and Frank must travel to Tomorrowland and find a way to save both Tomorrowland and the Earth. But to do this Casey and Frank must find a way around Frank’s nemesis, David Nix (Hugh Laurie).
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.
Time travel; alternate realities; catastrophic events
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 sequences of science fiction action violence, some gun related violence and the depiction of multiple deaths but with minimal 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.
Children in this age group are also likely to be disturbed by the above-mentioned violent and scary 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 violent and scary 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.
Some younger children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
As a boy Frank appears to be fascinated by Athena and she encourages his attention. As an adult, Frank admits he fell in love with her but later found out that she was a robot.
None of concern
A father asks his daughter if she is using drugs after she is arrested by the police.
There is some mild coarse language in this movie, including:
Tomorrowland is a science fiction action adventure from the Disney Studios. The film has an innovative storyline with George Clooney and Hugh Laurie providing star appeal. The film targets tweens and teens but has some rather intense violence and disturbing scenes which may scare young viewers. It is therefore not recommended for children under 12 with parental guidance recommended for the 12 to 14 age group.
The main messages from this movie are:
Values that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include altruism and innovation. Parents may wish to discuss Casey’s destruction of government property and whether this was justified.
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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