I was uncomfortable watching hand to hand fighting and gunfire with my nine year old daughter. Although she seems to love action adventure movies, there was entirely too much violence for 8+.

I've read all the reviews and almost universally it seems that younger girls reacted more negatively to the action than did the boys. Parents may want to take that into account. My husband and I watched this with our two sons (9 and 12) and we all thought it was a fun action/thriller. No one was disturbed by the violent content. (For the record, we do not allow Teen games or PG-13 films.) It can be difficult for us to find age-appropriate movies that don't bore the adults to tears. This film was entertaining for all. If your children are more sensitive then definitely check out the original Witch Mountain movies.

I wish that I'd seen these reviews before I took my 8-year-old daughter to see it. But that said, she really enjoyed it and is going to see it again with her 12-year-old cousin It was far more violent than I expected--but not overwhelmingly so. On the plus side, it's not explicitly sexual and there's no profanity. I reluctantly have to admit that this is an OK action adventure flick for kids who aren't troubled by intense explosions and somewhat gross aliens. I found it boring--don't look for deep characters or plot. It was a tolerable diversion at the $1 theatre during a hot summer night ;-) We usually avoid stuff that's this violent...but it's not awful and has some fun & entertaining moments...

Sexist

My Kids Loved it. Youngest (4) found a few scenes a little perilous, but manageable. Very exciting for them as it was almost 'grown' up entertainment (yes I enjoyed it too!) so a good film for everyone to sit down and watch together.

My 8 year old loved the movie. I found it too violent with the pre-eminent message throughout being "if someone gets in your way just mow them down with force." The concept was fine and could have been really cute if they'd done away with all the violence. Would love to see someone do a movie with the Hitchcock approach...you know something happened but you didn't need to actually see it. I wouldn't take my 8 year old daughter if I'd known.

I took my 8-year-old son to this and regret it. He was not scared, but I was appalled at the level of violence and the poorly written screenplay. I agree with the other reviewer who said it contributes to the desensitizing of kids to excessive violence. Mostly this was a vehicle for "The Rock" to flex his muscles. The kids were one-dimensional characters who did not solve their own problems, unlike the original. They are simply flat characters waiting to be rescued by Rock-dude. We rented the original for comparison and it is so much better for young kids! That story has a much better plot, well-developed characters who you care about, humor appropriate to kids, etc. It's a fun, nostalgic flashback for those of us who saw it in the 1970s. Save your money and rent the original, have a pizza at home, and spare your kids the gratuitous violence!

Saw this with my son, who's a month shy of 10 years old. I have mixed feelings about it, as although there was no swearing or sexual innuendo, there was also no imagination to the drama, as from almost the beginning viewers take in repeated car chases, gun pointing and shooting, explosions and wrecks, or fist-fighting. All cartoonish, with no blood or depicted deaths, yet I am struck by how accustomed young people are becoming to this type of violence as depicted, in particular, in video games. The alien assassin in the movie was drawn conceptually from "The Terminator" and physically from "Predator," and was physically threatening throughout. I couldn't help but contrast the violence in this movie with the alien hunters in "E.T.," who didn't threaten violence against the kids in the film, yet nevertheless felt menacing. This film, though entertaining and with its star, Duane Johnson, undeniably appealing to kids, totally lacks that sense of cleverness. I'd advise parents with kids younger than 11 or 12 to think twice about taking their kids to see this if, for instance, they are bothered by the level of violence depicted in many "Mature" video games. This movie is at that level, minus the blood. Although an adult wouldn't find enough of interest here to go preview the movie before taking a child, I can also say had I seen this film on my own I might have gone thumbs-down for my 9-year-old seeing it, precisely because I don't want him getting so accustomed to this level of depicted violence that there's a separation from just how violent shootings, car or train collisions, and fights really are. (I'm writing this in the evening of the same day we saw the film, and wondering if he's going to feel scared at bedtime.) That said, he didn't seem to be bothered by anything in the film and said he'd give it a "3". I'd probably be closer to a "2 1/2," and definitely less for kids younger than 9.