Iron Man

The movie is good but it is too violent for younguns. Found myself distracting my 8-year-old nephew from excessively violent scenes far more often than I would have expected. There is some social commentary that clearly draws parallels to real world issues: the horrors of modern warfare, American soldiers being killed, and the twisted morality of arming corrupt governments/terrorist cells with advanced weapons for the sake of profit. Tony is a brash, impulsive, and sarcastic playboy industrialist-turned-philanthropist who is shown making plenty of questionable choices throughout the movie leading up to his big change-of-heart; Characters drink alcohol and smoke tobacco in a fairly limited capacity. A sort-of implied sex scene shows 2 characters making out + rolling around in bed in their underwear. The woman later wakes up nude with only a sheet covering her body. A little later, she is escorted from Tony's house by Tony's assistant Ms. Potts and the two women trade jabs at each other, ending with Potts making a clever derogatory remark about the woman's status as nothing more than a one-night stand, equating her to "trash". Some presumably intoxicated flight attendants with drinks in their hands and exposed midriffs are shown dancing suggestively next to some stripper poles (the poles are not used and the ladies aren't dressed too provocatively). Expectedly mild use of vulgar language for a PG-13 film: multiple uses of h*ll, d*mn, b*tch. One use of pr*ck. One use of "BS" (only the letters "B.S." are said, not the word itself). Scenes of violence are quite frequent, realistic, and intense and can be too much/too realistic for kids not in their teens. Characters are shot, blown up, paralyzed, crushed, tortured, and burned. Scenes in the first half of the movie vividly and realistically depict modern warfare/insurgency tactics; an armored convoy is ambushed and destroyed by an IED and several soldiers are killed on-screen; Tony is held prisoner in terrible conditions and is unwillingly commissioned into forced labor; an intense firefight with lots of machine guns, explosions, and large fireballs ensues as Tony fights his way out of enemy captivity; a tense scene with Iron Man intercepting a terrorist attack against a village features guns, bombs, lasers, and tanks as families (with children) are separated and held at gunpoint. Later in the film, the antagonist Iron Monger's identity is revealed and he has his big showdown with Tony; Iron Monger is a character hellbent on profit through destruction and duplicity. His fight with Tony results in some local destruction as Iron Monger expresses his lack of regard for collateral damage. Cars are flipped, thrown, and destroyed; missiles and autocannons are fired; and near the end a character is killed with a large bolt of electricity.

I think ages 7+ should be fine watching this movie.