Not suitable under 9; parental guidance to 11 (scary scenes, disturbing themes, coarse language)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not suitable due to scary scenes, disturbing themes and coarse language. |
Children aged 8-11 | Parental guidance recommended due to some scary scenes, disturbing themes and coarse language. |
Children over the age of 11 | 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: | We Bought a Zoo |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild themes and infrequent coarse language |
Length: | 124 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) is the father of two children; 14 year old Dylan and 7 year old Rosie. The family are battling with grief following the loss of their wife and mother six months earlier. Benjamin, a courageous journalist with many exciting stories of his previous adventures, is struggling to support his children’s different needs - Dylan’s behaviours that result in his expulsion from school and Rosie’s innocence and need to remember her mother.
In an attempt to provide his family with a fresh start away from painful memories, Benjamin buys a rundown old zoo. The catch to his purchase is that he is required to keep the animals and the remaining colourful staff, including head zookeeper, Kelly (Scarlett Johannsen).
Benjamin battles the challenges that arise with trying to get the zoo up to a standard so they can reopen as a successful business. Along the way, he has to continue to support his family as well as deal with his own grief.
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.
Death of a family member; Animal distress.
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 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.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:
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.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:
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.
Nothing further of concern.
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
We Bought a Zoo is based on a true story of the Mee family, struggling to cope with the loss of their wife and mother. The family seek a fresh start away from painful memories. In that search for new beginnings and adventure, the family buy a zoo. With the support of the zoo’s employees, Benjamin works hard to get the zoo up and running as well as mend the wounds of his family. (CAUTION - there is reference to the younger child "still" believing in the Easter Bunny.) Best suited to families with older children due to the coarse language and disturbing scenes and themes.
The main messages from this movie are:
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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ABN: 16 005 214 531