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Parents' Guide to

Video Game High School

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Quirky YouTube spin-off has gun violence and bullying.

Movie NR 2012 124 minutes
Video Game High School Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 13+

Based on 10 parent reviews

age 13+

I legitimately like this

its funny, nice characters has jokes for everyone
age 17+

When will they learn?

I was really excited about this. I watched hoping my ten year old son could watch. Alas, no such luck. Just the profanity alone is ridiculous. These producers think they have to keep this kind of language in the movies or shows to “keep it real” but the truth is that no one would notice if they did not include the language. People only notice when it is there and they don’t want it, they never think that a show isn’t real because it doesn’t have cussing in it. Otherwise this is a neat series with some clever storylines that kids (oradults) who enjoy online gaming will appreciate. So disappointing.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (10 ):
Kids say (13 ):

For teenage gamers and fans of the popular web series, Video Game High School is a quirky and action-packed story. It both celebrates gaming culture and parodies the cliques and competition of high school life, while finding room for a tiny amount of sweetness in the form of the budding romance that develops between Brian D and Jenny Matrix.

However, families wary of gun violence and school bullying will be uncomfortable with the regularity in which the two are shown in this movie. While it's technically "video game violence," the characters are placed in real-enough looking situations where they fire assault weapons at each other, hoping to score the maximum number of points by shooting their rivals in the head. The movie also treats bullying as simply a matter of course in high school rather than something that should be stopped. The quirky style of the movie makes it impossible to address these issues in meaningful ways, and so the violence and bullying leaves a bad taste in an otherwise exciting movie.

Movie Details

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