Wonder Woman

image for Wonder Woman

Short takes

Not recommended under 12; parental guidance to 14 (violence, scary scenes, adult themes)

Age
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
classification logo

This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Wonder Woman
  • a review of Wonder Woman completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 7 June 2017.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 12 Not recommended due to level of violence and scary scenes, and adult themes.
Children aged 12-14 Parental Guidance recommended due to level of violence and scary scenes.
Children aged 15 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

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: Wonder Woman
Classification: M
Consumer advice lines: Mature themes and action violence.
Length: 141 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

This is an action adventure movie that brings to life the DC comic book hero “Wonder Woman”. The film tells the story of Diana (Gal Gadot), daughter of the Amazon Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) of the island Themyscira. Diana yearns to become a true Amazonian warrior but her Mother, the Queen, forbids it. Diana rebels and enlists her Aunt, the General Antiope (Robin Wright) to secretly teach her how to fight. One day, a World War One pilot, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crashes his aeroplane into the ocean next to the island of Themyscira and is rescued from the sea by the young Diana. When he shares his tale of the terrible war that is destroying the world, Diana feels she must leave Themyscira and return with him to help put an end to the terror and destruction. Steve reveals that he has important information about a chemical weapon that is being developed by the German enemies. Together they hatch a plan to foil the deadly attack. As her true super powers begin to show, it becomes clear that Diana is more than a just a powerful warrior.

Themesinfo

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.

Strong themes of violence, human suffering, warfare, weapons and chemical weapons. There is also a mild theme of romance.

Use of violenceinfo

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.

Wonder Woman contains highly stylised superhero action violence and scenes of war. Examples include:

  • Women training in hand-to-hand combat techniques and martial arts as well as weapon use with bows and arrows, spears, whips and swords.
  • Extensive scenes of guns being fired at enemy lines in war settings.
  • A scene where a man is shot in the head at close range by a superior officer.
  • Scenes of hand grenades being thrown and exploding.
  • Scenes of testing chemical weapons (gas) on people inside glass chambers being observed by scientists.
  • A scene of a fight in a bar with a man being repeatedly punched in the head.
  • A super hero combat scene

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

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:

  • Scenes of a plane crashing into the ocean and the pilot struggling to free himself from the plane in the water.
  • One of the scientists has a facial disfigurement, which has been ‘patched up’ with a prosthetic, and it is quite menacing.
  • When one of the Generals in the German army takes a special potion, he is endowed with special powers, which make him glow and take on a demonic appearance.
  • A man transforms into an evil god, who is a monster-like being with glowing eyes and a very menacing and scary appearance.

Aged five to eightinfo

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 mentioned above as well as:

  • Diana’s Aunty is shot and dies in her arms.
  • Many scenes of bombing, gassing and destruction.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

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 are also likely to be disturbed by the scenes mentioned above.

Thirteen and overinfo

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 disturbed by the scenes mentioned above.

Product placement

  • None of concern, however, there is likely to be merchandising for this film available.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references, romance and sexual innuendo in this movie, including:

  • When Diana asks Steve, the pilot, whether he is an average example of his sex, Steve replies that he is ‘larger than average’.
  • Diana and Steve have a conversation about ‘pleasures of the flesh’ and ‘biological reproduction’.
  • When Diana punches a man in a bar, another man says, “I am both threatened and aroused.”
  • Diana and Steve dance together and later, he kisses her.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • The Pilot, Steve Trevor, steps out of a bath naked (although no nudity is revealed to the audience only to Diana, as he covers himself with his hands,) and Diana spends a moment looking at his body with curiosity as she has never seen a man before.

Use of substances

  • Drinking of alcohol in bars.

Coarse language

There is some mild coarse language in this movie, including:

  • “damn” and “hell”

In a nutshell

Wonder Woman is a fast-paced, engaging and exciting action movie. Diana, the Superhero, is brave, strong and powerful as well as selfless and naively optimistic about the good of mankind. Wonder Woman is a breath of fresh air in a genre of movies almost completely dominated by male superheroes.

The main messages from this movie are the triumph of good over evil, fulfilling your destiny, camaraderie, teamwork and compassion for others.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Women being awesome superheroes.
  • Challenging gender stereotypes.
  • Fighting for what you feel is right.
  • Compassion for others, trying to help people who are suffering.

 

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as.

  • Realities and consequences of war.