The Avengers

What’s it about?

After a portal is mistakenly opened allowing Loki to reach Earth, the planets mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team to stop the villain and his alien army from enslaving humankind.

The facts

• Directed by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
• Starring Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America: The First Avenger), Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Tom Hiddleston (Kong: Skull Island), and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction)
• English language and Russian languages
• Runtime: 142 minutes
• One of the highest-grossing films of all time with over $1.52 billion in box office
• 6th release in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Why did it get this rating?

This film game was cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body. You can find out more about cross-rating here.

Violence

The film features extended action sequences, but the violence and injuries are not shown in detail. True to Marvel's style, the heroes frequently crack jokes, which helps lighten the tension. Most fight scenes are stylised, with minimal detail, often showing characters being defeated quickly and cleanly.

Throughout the film, many evil aliens are killed by the heroes, with the occasional, brief spurts of purple blood shown. Characters kick, punch, and shoot, people are killed (with little to no blood), and there are destructions and explosions. Sounds of punching and cracking blows are heard in fight scenes. There are some moments of violent injury, often with minimal blood.

Some other violent moments in the film include:

• In one scene, a villain uses a device to rip out a man’s eyeball. You do not see it being removed, but you can hear the squelching of the removal, and you can see the man squirming while it happens.
• In the battle scenes, soldiers are impaled and bloodied by blades – in one scene a blade protrudes from a man's chest, shot by laser guns and incinerated, and other general fighting and battle violence is shown, but generally not very graphic.

Intense and scary scenes

The aliens are very scary, especially their leader “The Other” who has quite a frightening appearance. Though the alien soldiers are usually masked, one rips off its mask at one point, revealing a disfigured face that might be quite scary for younger viewers.

A female hero is kidnapped and nearly thrown into a deep dirt hole before she escapes.

Offensive language

Offensive language is occasionally used, including words like “ass,” “son of a b*tch,” “bastards,” and “pissed off.”

A villain uses the phrase “mewling quim,” which refers to a woman’s genitals, as a sexist putdown towards a female character, however this will go over most viewers heads.

Self-harm themes

Bruce Banner mentions attempting to harm himself, but his alter-ego prevented it. This brief reference might be unsettling for some viewers but will likely go over younger ones' heads.

When content stays with you:

We all have our boundaries, and it’s completely okay if something you’ve watched is weighing on your mind. If certain content lingers with you, consider having a chat with friends or whānau to debrief about what you’ve just seen. But if you’re still feeling affected, please reach out to any of the following helplines for support.

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Brain development – how it works, why it matters