Is 'Avengers: Infinity War' a Kid-Friendly Movie?

Ten years of Marvel movies meet a climax with Avengers: Infinity War, in which most of the heroes and anti-heroes we've grown to love over the years come together in an effort to prevent Thanos from collecting all the Infinity Stones.

Children who have not known a world without the Marvel Cinematic Universe may be eager to watch this movie, and see how characters from the different franchises interact.

The movie is rated PG-13, and the rating is very close to the youngest age group that may be best mentally prepared for this movie. There are not as many uses of strong language or crude references has there have been in Marvel movies. However, the movie is filled with powerful scenes, which can be tough for even the parents to view.

The movie starts shortly after where we left Thor and the survivors of Asgard at the end of Thor: Ragnorok, with all the Asgardians, except Loki, seen lifeless or nearly lifeless. Among this devastation, we get our first humorous moment when Loki informs Thanos, "We have a Hulk." By the end of the scene, only two from the refugee ship are seen to survive.

The story moves on to typical superhero battles with action and elements any fan will enjoy, as Thanos' small, yet reliable team searches for the owners of the Infinity Stones on Earth - Dr. Strange and Vision.

The movie gets difficult again, as a flashback is shown. A child is seen being kidnapped from her mother, and then distracted as her people - very likely including her mother - are gathered and simultaneously murdered behind her. This is done very clearly, in full view of the audience, so there is no way a small child would not comprehend what is happening in the scene.

Throughout the movie, there are three characters who must kill the person they love the most in order to accomplish a goal, and the emotional and mental pain is seen in each. One of these scenes even includes something that could be seen as light-hearted, but feels more tragic in the moment.

There are a few little things that may be disturbing for younger viewers, like a hero ripping off his arm to help another hero, or another character only slightly graphicly killed by what can best be described as a large, alien version of a farm harvester. There are also alien dog-like creatures that could influence nightmares.

By the end of the movie, many characters, including very well-loved and unexpected ones, are dead. My theater, filled with quite possibly the all the players on the local high school's football team, was silent as the movie ended. Viewers are left in shock through the credits over what remains of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the music is suitable for playing to that emotion. An after credits scene shows even more devastation before giving one last glimmer of hope.

While the nature of the scenes may be very difficult for children, there is very little downtime in the movie. There is only one lull in the action which may cause children to get temporarily bored.

The movie also did an amazing job of telling each story in the movie so none of the plots or adventures seemed like subplots, which can happen in a movie with this many characters teamed in different locations. Scenes jumped from space, to New York, to Scotland, to various to planets, to Wakanda, without the viewer feeling like they were missing something or longing for more in the location they just left.

Avengers: Infinity War is an amazing, well-done movie, but it takes a much darker tone than the usual Marvel movie. Parents may want to wait to let even their younger pre-teens see this movie, as a result.