Rating: PG-13, for sequences of sci-fi violence and action.

The MPAA rating you see above is a serious understatement. Justice League is one of the more intensely, consistently violent and graphic comic book movies I’ve seen. It’s right up there with its predecessor, last year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in terms of destruction and carnage – relentlessly, numbingly so. BvS and Man of Steel director Zack Snyder returns (with some help from Joss Whedon in finishing the film after a family tragedy), this time to assemble a team of DC Comics superheroes to fight a powerful villain. Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and a back-from-the-dead Superman (Henry Cavill) must prevent the fearsome Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds) from turning the planet into a fiery hellscape. Massive fight sequences abound, some of which take place on Wonder Woman’s island Themyscira and Aquaman’s underwater home of Atlantis. Because this is a Snyder film, much of the mayhem is rendered in slow motion with a wide variety of weaponry, so you can really see what’s happening in those moments; other sequences, however, are a blur of visual effects and noise. The opening sequence finds a bunch of teachers and children under attack by gunmen, but simply what turns young Victor Stone into Cyborg is potentially disturbing enough. I did not bring my 8-year-old son (who’s seen a lot of these movies) with me to the screening, and I was glad about that afterward. As far as your kids go, I’d say it’s OK for viewers around 11 or 12 and older.

