Movie Reviews

Is Wonder Woman Appropriate for Kids?

I remember the feeling when I first saw Christopher Reeve fly. Tonight, my daughter received the same feeling while watching Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.

People like me have been craving a good Wonder Woman film for years. Not only do we love the character, but we want our daughters to cheer on a superhero they can identify with. And we want our sons to see and cheer on a woman kicking butt. Also, Wonder Woman is about as cool as a superhero as you’ll find. Thankfully, the movie we’ve been craving has arrived.

But before I give my thoughts on the movie, we’ll get into why you are reading this. Is Wonder Woman appropriate for kids?

I took my almost 11-year-old daughter to see the movie, and it was fine for her. If she would have been 8, I still would have taken her to see the movie. Here’s a brief breakdown of the reasons it received a PG-13 rating.

Violence: This is not your Linda Carter Wonder Woman. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Wonder Woman is a warrior and goes into full battle mode in the film. She kills people. A lot of people. There are a lot of battles in the movie and the body count is high. Many of the fight scenes are close up, which gets you right into the action. Even though there are a lot of deaths, you do not see a lot of blood.

Sex: There is a scene in which Chris Pine emerges from a bath and Wonder Woman stares at him. In the scene, Pine covers his penis with a hand and is seen for a brief moment in this position. There’s also another scene where sex is implied.

Swearing: Nothing notable.

Scary scenes: There is a character named Doctor Poison who has created a gas that could wipe out numerous people. She is seen experimenting on someone. In another scene, the gas is used on a town and many dead bodies are spread out. One character takes a potion to help him receive super strength, and it’s disturbing to watch when he takes the potion. And like I said, there are a lot of battle scenes with numerous deaths.

The movie is too violent for my 5-year-old and I’ll wait a few years for him to see it. My almost 11-year-old was more freaked out by previews for a shark attack movie than she was by Wonder Woman. If you let your kids watch the other DC movies or the Marvel films, they’ll probably be fine with this one. The tone of Wonder Woman is dark at times, similar to the pacing of Batman v Superman and the Nolan Batman films.

 

My final thoughts:

I loved Wonder Woman and think it is the perfect super hero movie. Gal Gadot is everything I hoped she would be and more. She provides humor and strength to the role and has made it her own.

And one more thought:

I think it is important for you to see this movie. If you have kids that are sensitive to violence and scary images, then leave them with a sitter and have a date night or see it alone. It is important to pay the ticket price of admission and help make a movie about a female super hero profitable. If money talks, we need use our voices (wallets) to let the studios know powerful women are bankable and needed. And it’s a great movie. Now if only Wonder Woman could receive the merchandise push that other super hero movies receive. I’m still looking for Wonder Woman t-shirts for men.

There are no end credits scene.

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