Should Kids See The Avengers: Age of Ultron?

The sequel to the immensely popular film Avengers releases this weekend. This action packed sci-fi action-adventure is sure to draw huge audiences, young and old. You may be wondering if the film is appropriate for your child and if there is anything to learn from the Age of Ultron experience. We’ve included our review of the film below.

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Basic Info:

Director: Joss Whedon

Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Paul Bettany

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action, violence and destruction, and for some suggestive comments

Run Time: 141 min/ 2hours 21 minutes

**Is Age of Ultron educational?**

There can be educational elements to the film. Two of the Avengers are scientists, and the film’s plot is centered around the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This could spark an interest in science, as AI is becoming increasingly probable.

In the first film, the Avengers fight among themselves as they learn to settle their differences. In this film, the Avengers are portrayed as a much better team, enabling parents to point out how much more effective they are as a team.

The film is also based on the hugely popular Marvel Comics, which can promote reading.

**How Violent is Age of Ultron?**

It is violent, but Marvel knows its audience and does a good job of hiding human-on-human violence. Viewers don’t often see a human shoot another human—they’re more likely to get thrown, punched or hit with an energy of some kind. As mentioned above, many of the enemies are AI/robots, so most of the violence is perpetrated against them, but they are also trying to hurt humans.

There are two scenes in particular that could be jarring for younger audiences. One of the characters in the film has a mind-control power, and uses this to inflict victims with visions of their worst fears. As a result, in the film’s darkest scene, a character hallucinates that he is unable to protect the Avengers and they are all killed in his vision. Lastly, near the end of the film, a character sacrifices himself, leading to the only time that a person is seen with serious/fatal wounds.

Is there profanity?

The very first word of the movie is ‘sh**’. However, this is the last time it’s used, and it instigates a running joke for the rest of the film about not using bad language.

Is there explicit content?

No, there are no explicit scenes in the film.There is a romantic development between two characters and there are implied adult themes, but these are subtle. There is one dirty joke, but its meaning will likely be missed by a child.

Your child should see this movie if:

They’ve seen the the previous films. If you were comfortable with your child seeing the first Avengers, the new film is not going to be traumatizing.
They’ve read the comics. Marvel has done a fantastic job of adapting The Avengers‘ story line across many films and is doing a great job of connecting and continuing the story.

Your child should NOT see this movie if:

They get scared easily. As the enemy is robotic, some can become damaged and continue to fight. Some of these robots can be creepy, especially because sometimes they are talking. Coupled with scenes showing some of the “worst fears,” these scenes could be a bit scary for kids.