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Parents' Guide to

Antboy: Revenge of the Red Fury

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Iffy humor, bullying in Danish superhero sequel.

Movie PG 2014 80 minutes
Antboy: Revenge of the Red Fury Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 8+

Based on 1 parent review

Solo Fide
Solo Fide Adult
May 16, 2017
age 8+

Quality Story and Flick for the Genre!

After watching the first "Antboy" and thoroughly enjoying it, I dipped into the barrel for "Antboy 2 Revenge of the Red Fury." This review is based on the English dubbed version, and I found the sequel to be a highly enjoyable experience. First off, this movie is packed with positive messages including the theme of loyalty, importance of admitting one's wrongs, and forgiveness. It also shows the potential consequences of bullying and the importance of keeping one's promise to others. As far as inappropriate material, I found it to be virtually non-existent in the English version. No cursing whatsoever (OK they used the word "dang" once, but not the curse word). No use of God's name in vain. All the relationships between the boys and girls were focused on caring and valuing the individual, not on an inappropriate lustful sexual attraction. The parts with the so called "bathroom humor" is not at all gratuitous or graphic, but actually part of the plot. It isn't put there for the sake of being "off-color." And this comes from a person who abhors off- color material in movies for adults and especially kids movies. I didn't find it offensive at all, and I don't often get to say that about movies these days. The dubbing, while I concede might be a little distracting to some, didn't bother me at all. You do notice that the words don't match the motion of the actors mouths, but I have seen much worse in the way of dubbing. I personally prefer to watch foreign films in the original language with subtitles, but since this film is marketed to kids I understand the dubbing approach. I would certainly recommend this film to the average age 8 year old and up with the caveat of there being some good guy/bad guy violence and intense scenes at times which entails a parent's discretion as to how their child responds to such scenes and stories.
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What's the Story?

As he continues to rid his town of crime whenever and wherever he sees it, Pelle, when not Antboy, feels dissatisfied with what he's doing and how his town doesn't give him enough credit. He still hasn't won the heart of Ida, who seems to be falling for the "new kid" in school -- a seemingly sensitive vegan guitarist and animal activist -- and he isn't any more popular at school than he was before, and, well, sometimes it isn't easy being a tween with the superpowers of an ant. This only gets worse when he saves an awkward girl named Maria on an ice rink from two bullies who later become supervillains the Terror Twins; Maria gets a huge crush on Antboy, but when Pelle spurns her, she takes her father's red cloak of invisibility and becomes the Red Fury. She begins to torment Pelle and Antboy at every opportunity, causing peak embarrassment at his most awkward moments. But when she teams up with other supervillains to defeat Antboy once and for all, Maria must realize that her powers should not be in the service of evil and that Pelle's foolish and thoughtless behavior doesn't warrant such extreme revenge.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Though not without some charm in its attempts to fuse superhero action with universal tween growing pains, this movie ultimately falls short. Nothing concrete really emerges from the action, and it doesn't add much that wasn't already in the original movie. Only one character seems to change for the better; overall, bullying doesn't really warrant much beyond a shrug and some over-the-top comic-book-style action. And because the movie is trying to do two things at once, it often falls short as the story gets muddled between "the new kid" in school trying to steal Pelle/Antboy's love interest from him and Maria's various humiliations causing her to become a villain, to say nothing of Pelle/Antboy's vacillations between being a superhero and being a kid. What should be a much simpler story is far too complex, and needlessly so.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how school and tween life are portrayed in this movie. Does it seem accurate? Why, or why not?

  • How is bullying addressed in this movie? Are there actual consequences for bullying, or is it shown to be a part of the challenges of growing up?

  • How is Antboy similar to and different from other superheroes?

Movie Details

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