Nothing is quite as fun as gathering your whole family around the couch, popcorn completely popped, snacks on the coffee table, and everyone hunkered down for family movie night. Now, most family movies tend to be animated or involve puppetry, but for this upcoming movie night, you’ve picked out a great selection of action movies to help the stress of the week melt away.
Hope for? Action movies? Are you serious? Sure, what’s wrong with a great action movie that the whole family can enjoy, right? Well, therein lies the biggest problem with most action movies: they’re not very family-friendly. The last thing you want to do is keep telling kids to cover their eyes because of violence or more mature content, and you certainly don’t want to start a whole dialogue about using salty language. But action movies are great! Why can’t they make these kinds of exciting movies for everyone? Turns out yes.
Unfortunately, that tease won’t pay off if you were hoping for a real list. You need to understand that every family is different, and as such, the focus is really on you and your partner and how you choose to make decisions in your home. That being said, before you jump right into the latest jungle blast movie or the best in collateral damage to an entire metro area drama, you might come up with a few guidelines for choosing a movie that’s appropriate.
Here are some things to consider when choosing an action movie for your next family movie night:
Know the ages you are working with – The MPAA has set guidelines for age-appropriate levels and content in movies. Overall, it’s actually a really solid system to work from.
Have a good handle on how well your children handle certain content – The content here can be anything from language and adult material to language. It can also refer to how well your children can deal with dramatic stories without catharsis.
Lively or not? – This is actually more for the parents. You want to watch a movie, but do you want to watch an animated movie? For family movies, there aren’t many options, but over the years, filmmakers have tried to include some good jokes for mom and dad to help them get through multiple viewings.
Do some research online and read reviews – There are general reviews to check out, as well as entire websites dedicated to families looking for movies that are appropriate for all ages. They are detailed and are excellent resources.
Is movie night at home or at a movie theater? – If you’re at home, you can play a little fast and easy with the MPAA ratings, but if you’re in a movie theater, movie theaters may be very serious about creating an environment that’s comfortable for you. all moviegoers. As such, if family movie night is on the way this week, call the theater ahead of time to check on policies.
Action movies aren’t necessarily the usual choice for family movie night, but there are movies that might fit the bill. There will be some level of commitment from everyone because it may not be the fullest representation of what an action-packed movie can offer, but remember what really matters most: you’re hanging out as a family.
