What Parents Should Know Before Their Kids See DC League Of Super Pets
Super-pets have long played a part in the lore of DC comics and comic book adaptations. Among some of DC Comics' best super-pets are characters like Robin's pet Bat-Cow, Wonder Woman's giant kangaroo Kanga, and of course, Superman's sidekick Krypto the Superdog. Krypto has a long history in DC media, spanning comics, video games, and cartoons. The 3D animated children's movie "DC League of Super-Pets," released in 2022, stars the latest incarnation of this iconic comic book character.
In his review of "DC League of Super-Pets" for Looper, Dominic Griffin highlighted the performances from its cast of voice actors as one of the film's biggest strengths, while noting that it's not necessarily a film of much substance beyond some broadly relatable themes. Of course, parents of a kid or kids interested in "DC League of Super-Pets" likely aren't concerned with ratings from critics so much as they are interested in whether or not the film is appropriate viewing for their children. With that in mind, here's what parents should know about the extent to which "DC League of Super-Pets" may or may not be suitable for younger audiences.
DC League of Super-Pets is largely kid-friendly, with a couple of caveats
An assessment of "DC League of Super-Pets" by Tara McNamara on Common Sense Media deems it appropriate for ages six and up. McNamara notes that, being an action-y superhero movie, fantasy violence is plentiful, but oftentimes resolved such that those affected are shown to be ultimately unharmed. Its humor, meanwhile, can skew toward its adult audiences at times. In fact, it's likely only adult viewers of "DC League of Super Pets" will understand a large portion of dialogue spoken by a turtle named Merton, voiced by Natasha Lyonne — not the sole source of its adult-oriented jokes, but one of the film's principal contributors. While Merton hints at some sexual innuendo and uses swear words, the former is only ever implicit and the latter is bleeped.
Common Sense Media user realmom17 wrote in their own review, "Swearing is bleeped out fully but unexpected. Some animal violence caused our kids to get a bit anxious, but they held it together. Our 3 year old had to be held towards the end because of the final battle scenes." They also suggested that its innuendo is only appropriate for children who are at least 7 or 8 years old. Some other users, however, felt that its humor crossed a line.
DC League of Super-Pets is suitable for almost all ages
In a review on her blog Cherish365, mother of three Jennifer Borget concurred that "DC League of Super-Pets" is family friendly, though she did recount one of her children seeming to feel a mix of boredom at the movie's length and slight fear resulting from the intensity of the movie's climax.
Notably, director Jared Stern described "DC League of Super-Pets" in an interview with Below the Line as a movie he wants viewers of all ages to enjoy. "My goal is always to not go, 'Oh, well, this joke was for kids. This joke was for adults.' Sure, there are going to be references that kids aren't going to get, but my goal is, as much as possible, to have the audience... the whole audience, from eight to 80, having a fun ride and invested in the characters the whole time," he said.
Based on assessments from real-life parents, "DC League of Super-Pets" does indeed include some content seemingly intended only for its older viewers, though it's never explicit. Meanwhile, the intensity of its action may be too much for easily-startled kids. Given these caveats, though, "DC League of Super-Pets" is largely a family-friendly film.