Captain America

Rated PG for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action
Starring Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, and Samuel L. Jackson
Running time: 124 minutes

My son, who is 5 yrs old, and I really enjoy superheroes. Superhero cartoons, superhero action figures, superhero online games, so when a new superhero movie comes out we're both really excited to see it. Of course that's tricky when you have a child so young. Some of the superhero films that come out with are great for kids, others are just too violent, too dark and even though I love them I know my son would never be able to handle them. Just like any movie really, but when superheroes are marketed both to children and adults it's hard to know which ones could possibly be seen by a child.

A whole group of new superhero films had their debuts in 2011, and I've let my son see the ones I thought he could handle, now that we've gone through nearly every film I thought would be kid friendly I started to go back and reevaluate the ones I'd said “no” to, just in case... in case maybe I was wrong. I just watched Captain America again the other day, and now I remember why I had passed on the idea of allowing my 5 yr old to view it. It's mainly due to the amount of violence in the film.

The movie is about Captain America's origin and takes place in a flashback to the 1940s era. Without giving up the entire plot, he's a test subject who gains super powers, a war hero in WWII and takes on his arch enemy the Red Skull. The cast of supporting actors include Hugo Weaving and Tommy Lee Jones, and they are both great in their roles. I imagined this story to be exciting for a child because Captain America seems pretty squeaky clean- an all-American hero, who saves the lives of soldiers and civilians. I imagined even having the opportunity to explain a little bit about WWII to my son... but then the amount of violence basically killed those plans.

Violence in the movie- fist fights, Red Skull murders a old man in cold blood, a murder of a Dr., woman shoots driver in head, a man commits suicide, a disintegration ray used to kill multiple people, Red Skull rips off his face/mask to reveal the skull underneath, and finally a man is chopped to bits when he falls through a propeller blade.

There are also points of time that is spent on strategic war talk which I think would have really bored my son , and some moderate swearing.

For myself I found it to be a pretty enjoyable film that will tie into the May 4 release of the Avengers movie, but not a movie for a 5 yr old.


Reviewed by Dawn McCullough-White