Something I’ve pointed out over the years in my family friendly movie reviews is that most movies these days are rated PG-13. That happens by default, since PG rated movies scare away adults (thinking the movie will be too cheesy), while R rated movies prevent many teenagers from being able to buy a movie ticket.

So since most movies are rated PG-13, I think it’s important to recognize which of those movies land closer to PG and which are closer to R. Because if this were about 30 years ago, Ant-Man wouldn’t have been rated PG-13. It would have been rated PG.

Let me begin by saying this movie is awesome! My son Jack and I loved it. My favorite Marvel movie up until this point was Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But there’s a good chance Ant-Man may be #1 in my book now.

It’s quick-witted, different, and yet warm.

Ant-Man is rated PG-13 due to action and fighting scenes; which are ultimately the equivalent to Power Rangers violence. The most intense violence actually comes in the form of fierce punches to the face.

It’s almost a theme in the movie: Face punching.

The only time my nearly 5 year-old son (4 years, 8 months to be exact) jumped in brief freight was during a few of the face punches, but it was mainly because the sound effects.

Other violence includes the main villain using a shrink-ray gun that shrinks a man as well as a sheep into a pink glob of mucus; therefore killing them both.

I think that in my son’s perspective, watching Ant-Man was like seeing the action violence of Power Rangers with the creepiness of Goosebumps on Netflix, with The Lego Movie type of humor.

There was no sexual content in Ant-Man or even innuendoes.

However, the assumed most “offensive” language in Ant-Man is one use of a word used for cat; but is used to refer to female genitalia. It is used briefly as an insult slang from one man to another, not in an explicit sexual content.

The other strong cuss word is one use of the phrase “S.O.B.”; only they don’t abbreviate it like I just did.

Other than that, there are definitely what I call PG-rated cuss words throughout. There were no uses of the f-word or “g.d.”; which are the ones most American parents seem to find the most offensive.

The reason the language didn’t bother me was that my son is too young to recognize those words as “bad words” yet.  He doesn’t hear them in our house or at his school, so it didn’t worry me for him to passively hear them in Ant-Man.

He thinks stupid and “oh my gosh” are bad words; neither of which I remember being in this movie.

I don’t think my son would have been able to handle the intensity of Jurassic World or the new Ninja Turtles movie. But Ant-Man was PG enough for him.

So would I recommend Ant-Man to younger children? I say yes, if your child is accustomed to Power Rangers, Goosebumps, and The Lego Movie.

If not, Ant-Man may be too intense, and too serious, for them to appreciate.

Please feel free to let me know your thoughts on my analysis on the “family friendly” factor of Ant-Man, as well as allowing me to answer any further questions  you may about this loveable movie.

Also, here’s my video review of Ant-Man: