The violence in this movie is prominent, however it is done in a humurous way, and in a way that does not impact the story. We felt some of the violence was unecessary. The idea to not kill your opponent but rather neutralize, is at best a teen ideal, or martial artist theme. Expect your kids to repeat the fighting scenes soon after the movie. Explain what martial arts are and how glamourizing violence isn't what martial arts does. This movie is fun for the whole family, but may send mixed messages about how, when, and why to use violence.
Excessively violent for the style and sophistication of the story line
As a film professional, I went to the world première of Kung Fu Panda, but was concerned that the makers have not thought enough about children imitating the violence.
Although the violence is between non-humans, you need to consider whether children personify speaking animals and whether they will imitate specific actions.
I was particularly concerned about blows to the head being portrayed as acceptable, as it is known that some children have weak skulls and can suffer serious injury or even death from a blow that another child might inflict without serious malicious intent.
Film makers should know about this, as some national ratings boards discourage depictions of blows to the head (along with knife throwing and hanging that does not result in death) as the most dangerous violence to portray to children.
At a minimum, parents should discuss with children the risks of blows to the head and the idea that violence is a solution to problems.
Tai Lung's character is too scary for my 3 year old. The scenes are dark, the music is scary. It's got a lot of violence for younger children. My older children liked the movie, and don't really view it in terms of violence, however, smaller children will find animals beating each other up not such a great situation. Also, all the characters make fun of the "big, fat panda" and this is a horrible message to send to children about self image, unless they understand the context. It's not a damaging movie, just one that doesn't have the best messages to take away from it.
Many 4-8 year olds are immune to the violence because they regularly watch violent shows like The Power Rangers. Po, the Kung Fu Panda, is struggling to discover who he is. He looks longingly at the “Fantastic Fiveâ€Â, or the “cool kidsâ€Â, with envy and awe and wishes he could be a part of them. Po is a clumsy outsider and the “Fantastic Five†rub it in his face at every turn. Even the teacher, “Master Shifu†mocks and rejects Po and treats him like dirt. The “Fantastic Five†fail to support Po. The group goes off after Tigress, their obvious leader, to face the enemy. Do they come back more humble after defeat? Do they return to rejoice in Po’s newly acquired skills? NO, just more attitude of if WE could not do it, Po certainly CAN’T. This movie was too violent for our 6 year old son. I apologized to him for the violence from the prison break to the end. It was not a good movie for my son or his like-minded friends. And it is a very sad statement that Family Rating site would think this is a good movie for ages 6+.
Our five and eight year old boys loved the movie and ask to see it over and over again. One caution: if anyone doubts the influence of movies on kids behavior, come by our house after the movie is over. You'll find our kids "kung fuing" everything in sight. Still, it's a movie with a positive and inspiring message.
The music, darkness, and evil surrounding Tai Lung were overwhelming. We made it through the escape scene with much comforting, but by at the end of the big fight scene after the escape, my daughter was sobbing. I would NOT recommend this movie for any young child sensitive to atmosphere.
I love CSM and usually find your reviews excellent and balanced, but I am really disappointed in your review on this movie. Just check out these other parent reviews too see that many parents are finding this film way too violent. I guess that many kids are "immune" today to such scenes, but my 6 and 8 year old were frightened and I was really disturbed, so we left after 1/3 of the movie. Maybe the fun stuff was at the end (?), but the first part was horrible: crossbows being fired at a prisoner in a dungeon, spiky torture weapons, fighting and head-smashing. Ugh. WRONG REVIEW, Common Sense.
My 7 & 8 year old liked the movie. I do not recommend it for kids under 5. They'll lose interest as the kids did in the theater we went to. Dreamworks supplies us again with beautiful animation. Lots of kicking and hitting. Creepy, scary tiger may scare little ones. No one dies. Good humor for kids and adults older that 4. I rate my experience as a " we'll rent it once when it comes out on rental, but will not purchase"
I like animation. I like China. I like pandas. I was excited to see this, but I was really disappointed. It wasn't funny and had no charm. I'm really glad I didn't take my 4-year-old son, because it had more evil and violence than I care to expose him to. The strangling bothered me the most. Evil tiger guy was trying to KILL little rat guy. No 4-year-old should watch that.
Movie Rating= 2.8 out of 5
Top 3 Items You Need To Know
1) There are parts of the film that focus heavily on the spiritual side of martial arts. This can give kids a false impression of the truth. Also, the moral lesson seems to be tied into that religion as well. They look to their "masters" as god-like individuals.
2) Given the name you would expect a lot of violence; although I did not see blood in the fight scenes they are very intense and a little disturbing (even more so for younger viewers). If you take your kids be prepared for Kung Fu Showdowns at your home (the fighting scenes are in overload on this film).
3) Not as funny as the previews led me to believe. I did laugh at parts of this movie though. They did throw in some words that could be offensive to some (especially those with younger kids) and they tried to make light of situations where characters (especially Po the Panda) were being made fun of.
Final Note: The movie left me a little disappointed. With all of the above situations I can't see myself purchasing this movie and giving even more cash to the producers.