Is Avengers: Age of Ultron Appropriate for Kids?

Avengers: Age of Ultron finally arrived in theaters, much to the delight of many comic book fans. Those of us that faithfully followed the Avengers in Marvel’s comic books (or graphic novels), were excited to learn that Ultron would be the main villain. Ultron is a robot created by Tony Stark (though Ant Man created him in the comic books) that is hell-bent on destroying humanity. Ultron forces the Avengers to once again come together and take on something bigger than themselves. And with this film, more superheroes enter the picture, such as Quicksliver, Scarlett Witch, and Vision. And let me get my nerd out by saying that I am a huge fan of Vision, and I was not let down.

But by now, everybody knows what the Avengers are about and who they fight. Parents want to know if they should bring their kids to see the movie.

Well, let me shed some light on what to expect. You can already assume that there is a lot of violence in the movie. There are many battle scenes, primarily between the Avengers and robots, and people are put in perilous situations. There are a few close ups of people dying. The violence is pretty similar to what you find in other Marvel movies such as the first Avengers movie, Captain America, and Guardians of the Galaxy. There are several curse words spoken in the movie, as well as a few blatant sexual innuendos.

I took my two older kids, they are almost 11 and 9, and they were mature enough to handle the movie. Though there was violence, there wasn’t gore, so we didn’t even have to tell them to close their eyes (though some of the previews before the movie were a different story). My kids are not sensitive to the action normally found in superhero movies and have seen almost every one. If your child has a hard time watching scenes of mass destruction and intense action, then be prepared for them to have some troubles. And if you are the type of parent that doesn’t want your child hearing any swear words, then you might have some problems with the movie. There is a little bit more swearing in Avengers: Age of Ultron than there is in Guardians of the Galaxy, if that helps as a reference, and, not surprisingly, most of the swear words are spoken by Tony Stark.

I did love the movie and so did my kids. We all had big smiles on our faces as we were entertained by some of our favorite heroes, and there were several parts where the entire theater laughed out loud. A part of me is sad that my wait for the movie is over. But then again, now I can look forward to seeing Ant Man, Fantastic Four, and some other movies coming out at Christmas that were previewed. (Star Wars: The Force Awakens! preview in 3D?  Worth the price of admission alone.) They all look fantastic.

Final verdict: kids younger than 9 may find the movie too intense, but older kids who love superhero movies will likely love it.