Not suitable under 13; parental guidance recommended 13-15 (Violence; Disturbing scenes; coarse language)
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not suitable due to violence, disturbing scenes and coarse language |
Children aged 13 to 15 | Parental guidance strongly recommended due to violence and disturbing scenes |
Children aged 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: | X-Men: Days of future past |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Science fiction themes, violence and infrequent coarse language |
Length: | 131 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
The film opens with a prologue from Charles Xavier/Professor X (Patrick Steward). We learn that in the past humans invented terminator-like machines called Sentinels, whose role initially was to detect and kill mutants. But later the Sentinels began to hunt and kill humans, whom they saw as a threat, and as a result both mutants and humans face distinction.
Xavier and Magneto (Ian McKellen) have traced the development of the Sentinel Program to one point in time where the mutant Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) murdered Dr.Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage). To reverse the tide, Xavier and Magneto devise a plan to change the past. This involves sending Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back in time to the 1970s where he must locate the younger versions of Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Lawrence) and convince the two arch enemies to work together to stop Mystique from murdering Trask.
Before Charles and Erik can work together, Wolverine, with the help of a mutant called Quicksilver (Evan Peters), must free Erik from a high security prison under the pentagon.
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; superheroes; genetic experimentation and mutation
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 intense sci-fi action violence and destruction with multiple deaths. There are some gruesome images of torture and mutilation, and occasional depiction of blood and gore. Examples include:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
The whole film is full of images and characters that will scare children under eight, for example:
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 will also be disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes and 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.
Children in this age group are also likely to be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes and 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.
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:
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
The film contains some sexual activity and partial nudity. Examples include:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
The film contains some coarse language scattered throughout. Examples include:
X-Men: Days of future past is the latest in this series of Marvel Comic action films. It is targeted at older adolescents and adults, particularly those who are X-Men fans. With its star-studded cast, it is sure to entertain this audience but it is probably the darkest X-Men film yet. As usual, younger teens and tween boys are likely to be attracted to the film, but the M rating should be a warning to parents. The many violent and disturbing scenes and scary characters make it unsuitable for under13s and many slightly older children, so parental guidance is strongly recommended for younger teens. Parents may also be concerned by the coarse language in the film.
The main messages from this movie are:
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
Parents may also wish to discuss how non-mutants in the film treat mutants and compare this to the way minority groups are treated in our culture.
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
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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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