Superman Returns and kids

[attolia]

A quick question for those who have seen the movie: is it too violent for a 10 year old? How about an 8 year old?

Comments

[maveness.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'm a good judge on this one, but I didn't feel like it was. (Although there is one scene that might be hard on a young one, depending on how they handle violence. Because while most of Superman's stuff is hands off violence, there is one hands on moment that might be cause for concern.)

[attolia.livejournal.com]

Thanks. My younger one chose to go skip the movie for a playdate. I warned my older about some of the scenes and she was ok with it.

[theclexfactor.livejournal.com]

I would say "No, it isn't", but then again I am not the best judge because I was watching R movies with my parents since before I was 10...

[attolia.livejournal.com]

The issue didn't occur to me until I thought about taking my almost-8-year-old as well as the 10-year-old. I'm just as happy she decided not to go. My older was fine with it.

[devin-chain.livejournal.com]

I dropped this note in answer to a similar question someone asked in LaT's lj:

I saw it last night with my eleven year old, and one scene disturbed her enough to make her sob.


*****Spoiler******





Lex leaves two dogs alone in a mansion for a long time. When Lex
comes back, one dog has eaten the other dog. We see the other dog's fur all around it and the little dog munching the other dog's leg bone, complete with a bit of bloody marrow showing at the tip. Really. It set my daughter OFF. She's a pretty tough kid emotionally, so I think you should know. She understood instantly, turned to me with mouth hanging open, and began silently sobbing. Um, but she loved the rest of the film.

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

I thought that scene was horrible. It really upset me AND my 24-year-old daughter!

It wasn't necessary to throw something like that in just to prove Lex is evil. We get it, for chrissakes.

[devin-chain.livejournal.com]

It was too much. *nods*

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

I just can't deal with anything violent towards animals. Implied or overt. Period.

[devin-chain.livejournal.com]

And neither can most children. I can't believe the scene made it into a film most kids will obviously want to see. I don't see the wisdom in writing it.

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

When a scene like that shows up in a film, it has a way of putting me "off" the entire movie. Consequently, when I have more control, I generally hit the "off" button right around then.

IMO, in the case of SR, it was humor of the "sick" variety. Very disappointing. I'd have been REALLY upset had I taken young children to the film.

[devin-chain.livejournal.com]

I like black humor. In another film, my stomach would have flipped, but if it fit the context of the rest of the movie, okay. I just didn't feel this scene or the ultra-violent scene of Lex kicking Superman meshed with the rest of the film or with the demographic the film meant to draw. Again, I don't see the logic.

[attolia.livejournal.com]

I read on one of those parent review web sites that a dog ate another animal, so I was able to warn my daughter about it. She said she wouldn't mind unless it was a cat (she's a cat lover). I think by the time she realized what had actually happened in that scene she got distracted by something else.

I was actually bothered more by the beating-up-superman scene, because it seemed to go on for a while.

[devin-chain.livejournal.com]

That one bothered me, too. It looked pretty convincing. I believed Kevin Spacey's rage, his abusiveness.

[tmelange.livejournal.com]

It depends on how desensitized your kids are to violence. The violence is on the low side of the reality scale. There's maybe 2 disturbing scenes. Overall, I saw a whole theater full of kids ranging from 3 - 17 and none seemed bothered. One of the "disturbing" scenes was rather funny (about a dog but only implied) and the other was pretty short (Supes getting beat down). I wouldn't hesitate to let kids see it (as long as they are not "sensitive").

[attolia.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the advice. My younger daughter isn't that interested in Superman and chose to go on a playdate instead. My older one didn't have any trouble with the violence, but she did hold my hand pretty tightly at some of the suspensful parts.