About.com Rating

Bottom Line: The 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot kicks the franchise into PG-13 range, so parents should expect a heightened level of violence and other content; however, the movie is quite mild compared to other PG-13 super hero flicks that target young audiences.

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sci-fi action violence
Genre: Action/adventure
Age recommendation: 9+
Runtime: 100 minutes
Starring: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: August 8, 2014

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Overview

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles takes place in modern day New York, where a villainous crime syndicate called the Foot Clan has spread crime and terror throughout the city. When a young reporter named April O’Neil begins to look into a Foot Clan crime scene, she sees a group of vigilantes who foil a Foot Clan plot to attack a ship. When O’Neil is caught up in another Foot Clan plot, she is saved by the vigilantes -- four genetically altered turtles named Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael -- who bring her back to their underground training lair and introduce her to their master, the genetically modified rat Splinter. They explain to her that they were created from a science experiment by the technological mastermind Eric Sacks, who is now in league with Shredder, the leader of the Foot Clan.

When the Foot Clan leads a deadly attack upon the Turtles’ underground lair, Donatello, Leonardo, and Michelangelo are captured by Sacks and his men as part of a plot to spread toxins throughout the city.

Raphael is forced to form an alliance with April O’Neil to save the other turtles. But when Shredder threatens to disperse the toxins upon the entire world, the Turtles must unite with April O’Neil to save the world.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Review for Parents

Despite its PG-13 rating, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is geared toward kids, and features a lot of childish humor and silly characters. The film features some violence, but all of this is quite mild and lacks the realism of other PG-13 films like Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Edge of Tomorrow. Many action sequences occur throughout the film involving swords and martial arts action, but rarely is anybody injured, and there is little to no blood.

The Shredder character might be scary for some kids, but he is not overly frightening and does not receive much screen time. There are a few sexual references, mostly involving men commenting on how attractive a woman looks, but they are all mild and most likely will not be picked up by kids and are not nearly as raunchy as the jokes in this summer's Guardians of the Galaxy. The profanity in the movie is also generally mild, for a PG-13 film, with two uses of the “a” word and one mouthed usage of the “s” word.

While the humor and action may entertain kids, the childish tone of the film might be too goofy for tweens and teens. Girls may also find the film less interesting, as there are no strong female characters other than April O’Neil, who is in constant danger and generally ends up being saved by other characters. The movie feels much less intense than other PG-13 films released in 2014, and is significantly less intense and violent than other action films this summer. Basically, the tone and style of the film is very similar to that of a cartoon.Kids might want to imitate the martial arts fighting in the film, which is a live action rendition of action similar to cartoons like Kung Fu Pandaand not too far off from the last TMNT movie, the animated 2007 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Content Overview

Violence (Moderate): Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles contains a lot of fighting and action throughout, but no one is killed and there is little to no blood. While there are some explosions and destruction at the end of the film, no injured people are actually shown on screen. While the violence in this film is quite mild for a PG-13, there is a lot of kung fu action throughout, and some character will use weapons to duel.

Scary Scenes (High): The Shredder character might be frightening for kids, but he never gets that much screen time or gets to do anything particularly evil. The main characters are constantly put in danger, but never seem to be injured.

Sex/Nudity (Mild): Some very mild references, which likely won’t be picked up on by young kids. Some women wear low cut tops or form fitting outfits.  

Drugs and Alcohol (None): None.

Language (Mild): Two uses of the “a” word, and one inaudible use of the “s” word.

Disrespectful/ Imitable Behavior (High): While kids might want to reenact some of the action sequences, the film has characters showing positive characteristics such as loyalty and brotherhood. Characters put themselves in danger throughout, but their actions are generally motivated by positive traits like selflessness. The action sequences and few instances of language or banter will likely be tempting for young kids to imitate.

Sad/ Unsettling Scenes (Moderate): At one point, it seems that Splinter is dead, which is emotional for the Turtles. April shows remorse for her dead father, but this is fairly brief.   

Movie Topics Kids Might Have Questions About: Family, Brothers, Science, Accidents, Reporters, Ninjas, Germs and Toxic Warfare