Tony Stark has chased villains and women his entire career, but he’s finally ready to settle down and get married. He is – believe it or not – engaged! If only the bad guys of the cosmos would cooperate. Before Stark and his fiancé can even plan the wedding, he learns of a plot by the super-villain Thanos, who hopes to capture all six of the universe’s Infinity Stones and thereby acquire god-like powers. Thanos’ ultimate goal: wipe out half the universe’s population because – he says – there isn’t enough food and other resources to support all of us.
How generous of him.
But Iron Man – that’s Stark – surely will stop Thanos, right? Well, maybe not. Thanos defeats Thor in a battle, and then whips Iron Man, Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, too. It seems Thanos soon will kill half of us unless someone (perhaps the Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther) can find a way to defeat him.
A review for parents
Millions of parents and children will flock to theaters this weekend to watch "Avengers: Infinity War" (PG-13), which is the 19th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but the first Marvel film to bring all our favorite superheroes together on the big screen. It’s sort of like a mega-concert tour featuring our favorite bands from the 1970s and 1980s, but without the wrinkles.
The ratings’ board tells us it’s rated PG-13 for “intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, language and some crude references.”
That’s helpful, but as a parent of four small children, I need more details. How much violence does it have? How many bad words are in it? And which crude references will my kids see?
That’s where this Review can help. I screened "Avengers: Infinity War" earlier this week with a keen eye (and ear) for the stuff that parents want to know. That way, you and your children won’t be surprised by what you watch and hear.
What families should know
Violence/disturbing rating: 8 out of 10: It’s mostly blood-free, but it’s still excessive, with quite a few dead bodies and a ton of punching and fighting.
Perhaps most significantly, the film contains three scenes of people being tortured in ways that only a villain could torture. It’s not as grotesque as what Jack Bauer would have done, but it’s still intense.
We also see a few people stabbed in the chest with spears and knives. We hear a man describe how he lost both hands to a villain. We see an army shoot and kill (with laser guns) hundreds of innocent citizens. We see someone throw someone else off a cliff, killing the person. A huge battle caps the film, with plenty of shooting and hand-to-hand combat. Some characters in the Marvel franchise die. Obviously, the movie also has plenty of ugly alien-like creatures, too. We also see Dr. Strange and others perform sorcery.
Language/crude references rating: 5 out of 10: There are no f-bombs, but there are a handful of other words: sh** (5), a** (5), hell (5), damn (4) and bastard (1). There also are a few OMGs. The crude reference involves Star-Lord flipping off someone.
Sexuality/sensual rating: 2 out of 10: We see three couples share brief kisses.
