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Parents' Guide to

Extinct

By Stefan Pape, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Average animated animal adventure has some threat, violence.

Movie NR 2021 84 minutes
Extinct Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

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age 10+

Based on 6 parent reviews

ClTr975
ClTr975 Parent of 7 and 9-year-old
March 18, 2023
age 5+

Alright family movie

The boys choose this movie for movie night and they enjoyed it. It has some silly moments which made them chuckle. The movie was alright. It was good enough to keep everyone watching entertained. I don't think we'd watch it again though. There was only one instance of almost swearing that I can remember: "Son of a ..."
murraytrio
murraytrio Parent of 8-year-old
January 20, 2023
age 10+

Skip it- it's not worth the follow up convos.

I liked the overall plot of this movie, which is the reason for 2 stars. I wish we could have filtered it through VidAngel but it was unavailable. Having said that, there were tons of things in here that I wouldn't have wanted our 8 yo daughter to see- most of which she looked at me like, "why did that just happen?". In the beginning of the movie, there is a bird called a "blue-footed boobie" that flies by. Charles Darwin is on a ship, discovering new lands and laughs at the word "blue" while the shipmate laughs at "boobie". It didn't need to be mentioned b/c it could have been easily overlooked but they called attention to it, which resulted in the first confused look from my kiddo. Shortly thereafter, the bird is followed to an island where he crash lands and ends up sliding into a tortoise shell to then be "punched" out by the tortoise's head. This lands him in another shell, the screen pans out to reveal a pinball-like path where the bird is continually head-butted/punched out of each shell (second look). We found this to be a bit too violently graphic. It could have been a little more cartoon-y but it wasn't done that way. The story moves on to the island where the flummels are and there is a LOT of name-calling, including pressure on the main characters because they think and do things differently than the rest of the crowd. They are told they are weird (WAY more often and harsher than they should in a kid's movie- got lots of looks for these and unease from my kiddo) and, because of this relentless bullying, the brother ends up not wanting to be around his sister because she's too weird and makes it hard for him to fit in. There's a lot of talk about how she's an embarrassment, how they can't ever do anything right, etc. (more looks). They are constantly rejected, left out, isolated, etc. After the first 20 mins., the content gets a tiny bit better over the next hour but not a lot. There are a few almost-cussing things sprinkled in ("son of a" and stops, etc.) that weren't needed. Our daughter didn't have an issue with the villain at the end, however, in the last 10 mins or so, out of NOWHERE, a bird randomly and dramatically swoops onto a flummel and starts making out with him with odd moaning/mmmm type noises. It happened so quickly and had NO previous mention of any type of attraction or romance that it was shocking. So much so that my husband threw up his hands in confusion. It was strange to say the least and it felt inappropriate (yep, another look). Finally, in the last 3-5 minutes, the bird tells the flummel she has something to show him and there is a bird/flummel egg. This brought about the last look and a comment somewhere along the lines of, "uh....mom...?" To which I replied, "well, that's weird and could never happen. Sorry kiddo, IDK why they put that in there..." and tried to move on. We won't be watching this again. Even though there was a happy ending, there were too many things that made my daughter uncomfortable.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
See all 6 parent reviews

What's the Story?

EXTINCT takes us back to 1835, where the lovable, donut-resembling species the "flummels" exist alongside other animals. But when clumsy siblings Ed (Adam Devine) and Op (Rachel Bloom) find a portal that transports them to modern day Shanghai, they discover their species has become extinct. Ed and Op quickly realize that they are the only hope left in keeping the flummels from disappearing forever.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (6 ):
Kids say (11 ):

In a congested market, there's a need for an animated adventure to do something unique and to stand out -- something Pixar has achieved with the likes of Soul and Coco. Which is why Extinct is nothing more than perfectly OK. It's a somewhat conventional tale that lacks any real adventure or individuality. It follows all the familiar beats, preaching all the same, familiar messages, that other family-orientated productions do. It's harmless fun, it's got the occasional gag that will make the parents chuckle, and a few moments that will entertain the little ones. But if you're looking for something special, sadly this isn't likely to fit the mold.

It's also jarring that the filmmakers had this creative opportunity to create a brand new species. They could have looked, sounded, and acted however they wanted. Yet they're just donut-shaped rabbits. Perhaps the movie would have benefited from a cute and amusing supporting cast -- think the Minions. This could have alleviated the pressure on the leading duo in being the comedic heartbeat of the film, as well as having to save their species. That's a lot of pressure for a couple of flummels.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the slapstick violence in Extinct. How do you know when something "violent" is meant to be funny and not scary or real? How much scary stuff can young kids handle?

  • Discuss what it means for a species to become extinct. Does it concern you that animals can disappear forever? What can we do to help prevent this? Are there any creatures that are now extinct that interest you?

  • Ed and Op are siblings. Do you have any brothers or sisters? If so, how does your relationship with your own siblings compare to that of Ed and Op?

  • The movie celebrates our differences. Why is it a good thing that we are all different and unique in our own way?

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