suicide squad? the ads are pretty provocative. He's just turned 15 and it's rated PG-13 but that can be such a broad term. He wants to go with his buddies. I read the mom movie review and it doesn't seem too over the top but I'd like to hear from someone who has actually experienced it.
as always, your input is appreciated. :-) S.
I have not seen it, but I do like Common Sense Media's website. I find their reviews very helpful, and there is one on Suicide Squad:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/suicide-squad
My husband took our 11 1/2 year old this weekend.
I had looked up the reviews on commonsense media because I wasn't sure it was appropriate. I tend to be more conservative about what movies our youngest gets to see, but when I really looked at what they are saying to support their review, I thought they may stretching it a bit to make it seem worse than it actually is.
I think it will be fine for your 15 year old.
I've seen the previews and I'm not impressed.
My husband just shook his head and said "No".
Critics seem fairly united in bashing it.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/suicide_squad_2016/
https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/how-family-f...
Should your 15 yr old son go see it?
Depends why he wants to.
If it's just something to do with his friends it's probably mostly harmless.
Some movies you don't go to for a riveting plot - you go to check out the special effects.
(A good plot doesn't need special effects but might be enhanced by them. A lack of plot can't be saved by special effects - but it doesn't stop Hollywood from trying.)
Without too much effort I think your son and his buddies could find a different movie to spend their money on.
I saw it with my husband and 17 year old nephew. I had never even heard of it-- never even read the comic books the characters are all associated with. That being said; I thought it was dark and disjointed. My nephew has read the comic books and thought it was okay, but it did not flow or make a ton of sense to him. My husband was not a fan at all-- his thoughts similar to mine.
As some of the others have said, it depends on your son's maturity level and what you allow him to see in general. Harley always has her cheeks hanging out-- she is the the token sex- symbol-- with a really sad back story. The joker is part sociopath, part pimp, mostly a lost man with the mindset of a 13 year old boy. It just has a dark vibe all the way around.
My 13 year old niece wants to see it. If she was my child, I would say no way. However, I know she has seen and heard worse-- most of her friends dress like Harley. Had we known what it was, we would not have gone, let alone taken our nephew.
It really depends on how you parent your son. If he does not play video games; if you censor what he watches; if he has never heard a swear word; if he is home schooled-- then don't let his eyes be opened by this movie. If not, then he's probably seen it, read it, and heard it all before. Best of luck in your decision.
My daughter saw it with her friend and friend's younger cousin. They said it was "eh". Now, my DD is 17 and so is her friend. Cousin is 14 or 15. My DD said it did not follow a story line and she wouldn't waste the money to see it again. But, as to whether it is fit to view, no worse than other movies out there. My daughter thought it would be more lost on little ones than horrible or scary.
My 27 year old daughter saw it. She said it wasn't what she thought it would be and didn't much care for it. She said the trailers made it look much better than it actually was.
Here is what a Mamapedia Voices blogger had to say about it...
http://www.mamapedia.com/voices/should-i-take-the-kids-su...
Kids 11 and under: No. Kids 12 and up: Yes.
Go to themoviespoiler.com and read an entire line by line reveiw of the movie.
I often go there if I'm concerned about content or storyline. I don't do horror movies or scary movies or gory movies at all. If J D Robb ever lets one of her In Death series books be made into a movie I'm sure I will never see it even though I read her books. Too intense.
If you want to know anything about any movie they have a massive archive of movies too.
Everyone should go there before they go spend money at the movies or even rent from that red box.
http://www.themoviespoiler.com/2016Spoilers/SuicideSquad....
Based on the Common Sense review and the marketing, I'd say that:
- he's not going to hear language he doesn't hear on the school bus
- the killings and executions are felt, by the producers and the rating agency who gave it a PG-13, to be more comic-book style and less realistic (which is up for debate by parents)
- the title "Suicide" means they are marketing the film to young men 13-25. Pathetic, I know!
- the discussion of strong, opinionated women needing to be silenced is a topic you should be having with your 15-year-old anyway. Same with the topic of suicide.
I'd suggest you base your decision on how mature a 15-year-old you think you son is. Is he still young and easily influenced by his peer group? Or is he a more mature teen who can sort out comic book action and see that it's not behavior to emulate? Has he always played video games with gratuitous sex and violence in them (at your home or at his friends' homes)? Does he have a sense of women/girls not being playthings or deserving of beatings/force? We didn't allow our son to see certain things when he was younger, and we asked about WHY something was rated PG-13 or rated R - blood & guts, bad; language/nudity, more okay with us. We also watched a LOT of stuff together and gave him our "take" on things to be sure he knew that's not how you treat women or how you talk in real life, that sort of thing. We let him watch Star Wars stuff much earlier than "real life" blood and violence, for example, because we felt Star Wars was so dependent on special effects and aliens that he knew it wasn't real. By 15-16, we gave him a lot more leeway because we knew he was seeing things anyway, and we didn't want to get into a situation where too-strict a set of rules would make him sneak around. We had pretty open conversations about it. In fact, we were more likely to remind him that someone who knew him would likely be in the theater, so not to behave badly in the bad row (where lots of kids congregated for sexual behavior like oral sex and so on). So in some ways, what was happening on the screen was less of a concern. Just go into it with your eyes open and be sure there are things you can talk about with him.
I took my kids (9, 11, and 13) and my 7 year old niece. My friend brought her kids (11, 9, and 6). There were other kids in those same age ranges in the theater too.
Both of our families go to the movies often and really enjoy all genres. This was no different than Captain America or Batman-v-Superman.
I just went today and saw it through work. One of my fellow employees was VERY excited to see it, I had no idea what it was even about.
Cue movie....I could have slept through it. My fellow employee did not like it at all. He said it was not good, character development, blah blah.
Yes, Harley QUinn is provocative, (even her NAME is provocative!), but not naked and she actually doesn't seem to use her sexuality that much...she just IS sexual (not sure if that makes sense). THe character I HATED was the Joker. He was just creepy/dark/ick. The witch was almost laughable.
For me, it was a "meh" movie. Probably better to rent.
