What we flagged
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Our take
This animated DC film is a full-scale apocalypse, far from Saturday-morning League fare. Darkseid's forces crush heroes, cities, and civilians, with mutilation, enslavement, and a lot of killing on screen. Swearing includes the f-word, s-word, a-word, and b-word. Whiskey, beer, and a cigarette show up as grim coping. Teen heroes are among the people hurt and killed. We put this at 16, with a parent, because the gore and despair stay high for the whole runtime.
Uplifting themes
The last stand still argues that people have to work together if anyone is going to live. Loyalty shows up in ugly conditions. The message is quieter than the carnage, but it is there Battered heroes keep showing up for survivors even after pride got them wrecked. Cooperation matters more than solo glory by the end. Role models here are exhausted adults, not tidy examples
Story (may spoil tone)
Earth is decimated after intergalactic tyrant Darkseid has devastated the Justice League in a poorly executed war by the DC Super Heroes. Now the remaining bastions of good – the Justice League, Teen Titans, Suicide Squad and assorted others – must regroup, strategize and take the war to Darkseid in order to save the planet and its surviving inhabitants.
What we flagged
Details
Violence Darkseid's invasion is a slaughter. Heroes are beaten, enslaved, and ki…
Darkseid's invasion is a slaughter. Heroes are beaten, enslaved, and killed in long, ugly fights while cities burn. Paradooms tear through people, and the war never turns playful
Language The f-word shows up more than once, with the s-word, a-word, b-word, b-…
The f-word shows up more than once, with the s-word, a-word, b-word, b-word, and hell in the rubble. Swearing is frequent and angry. It matches adult war talk, not a kids cartoon
Sex / nudity A crude cock-block gag sits in the early banter among exhausted adults.…
A crude cock-block gag sits in the early banter among exhausted adults. Nothing becomes a sex scene. It is a throwaway line in a film that is mostly about war
Drugs / alcohol Whiskey and beer come up as characters numb out after the world falls a…
Whiskey and beer come up as characters numb out after the world falls apart. Someone also asks for a cigarette. Drinking is grim atmosphere, not a how-to or a binge plot
Frightening Earth looks occupied and hopeless, with monsters, demons, and heroes wh…
Earth looks occupied and hopeless, with monsters, demons, and heroes who cannot protect anyone. Body horror and civilian panic sit in the open. Younger teens who like the League may find this crushing
Child peril / abuse Teen Titans and other young heroes are in the war and take real harm, i…
Teen Titans and other young heroes are in the war and take real harm, including deaths. A boy is threatened with killing on screen. Kids and teens sit in the meat of the violence, not off to the side
Gore / death / weapons Limbs come off, bodies pile up, and weapons leave ugly wounds you can s…
Limbs come off, bodies pile up, and weapons leave ugly wounds you can see. Corpses are not a distant hint. For animation, the injury detail sits at the adult end of DC's catalogue
Grief / bereavement Friends watch teammates die and keep moving through shock they barely h…
Friends watch teammates die and keep moving through shock they barely have time to name. The film sits with loss as the cost of the war. Families should plan for a heavy, mournful stretch
Flashing lights We have not confirmed whether this version contains flashing lights.
We have not confirmed whether this version contains flashing lights.
Family watch notes
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Talk after watching
- When a fight already looks lost, what still makes it worth standing with other people?
- Several heroes pay a terrible price. How do you talk about sacrifice without treating pain as cool?
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Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
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