THE ANIMUS — I know how it is— you are busy with work and last-minute Christmas shopping, your kids are out of school and begging to do anything to not be bored.

If you are like me, it is a welcome distraction to send the kids to the movies with friends or even take a couple hours and go with your kids yourself. We are now full swing into the holiday movie season, and there are a lot of movies to choose from. With such a variety of films, it is a good idea to get a little input before you spend your money on or send your kids to a movie that may or may not be the best choice for your family.

As for movies oriented toward younger children, there are a quite a few great choices in the theaters this year, but if you're looking for something with more action that is more appealing to your teenage children, your choices are more limited.

Enter “Assassin’s Creed,” the newest movie this season that takes aim at the more teenage-y audience who is looking for some action and excitement before they go back to school. “Assassin’s Creed” is a movie based on a very successful video game series and is the most recent attempt by Hollywood to make a video game-based movie that isn’t awful. Fortunately for me, it is not my job to tell you if Hollywood succeeded in making a good video game movie or not. For a full and thorough review, please read John Clyde’s article about “Assassin’s Creed.”

I have the job of telling you what you should consider before taking your kids to see it.

Violence

With a movie entitled “Assassin’s Creed,” it is a pretty safe bet there is going to be some violence. “Assassin’s Creed" definitely does not skimp in this area. With a run time of 2 hours 20 minutes, a majority of the time is dedicated to intense hand-to-hand fighting, mixed with some words just to keep the story moving.

Although the fighting is constant and varied, there is a relatively small amount of graphic violence in terms of blood and gore. However, there are some intense scenes that will not be appropriate for younger children.

Language

There is a fair amount of swearing in this movie, but they are all middle tier words, most of which you will hear on network TV (the rest you may hear at a little league basketball game.) If you or your kids are particularly sensitive to this type of language, use caution, but for the most part these are words we are exposed to everyday.

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As far as other language is concerned, there isn’t anything sexually or violently graphic in any of the dialogue.

Sexiness

Not much to speak of in this department unless you find a barechested Michael Fassbender sexy. In terms of any sexually suggestive or explicit content, there isn’t any. I don’t even recall a kissing scene, which makes sense since it would have cut into the running around jumping off stuff and fighting scenes.

Relatability

Since “Assassin’s Creed” is based on a video game, the question arises, “Do I have to be familiar with the video game to understand the movie?” The answer is no.

I think Hollywood has figured out that when making crossover films, they should be as easily understood by someone who is not familiar with the franchise as someone who knows it inside and out. I have played some of the “Assassin’s Creed” games over the years, but there was nothing in the film that I understood better than someone whose only exposure to the franchise is this movie.

Aside from some arbitrary references and an uncanny ability to capture the feeling of the game in chase and fight scenes, you won't miss anything necessary to fully enjoy this film.

The film is rated PG-13 so my recommendation for age appropriateness is at least 13, but probably more suited to the 15- to 16-year-old crowd. Of course, this is all very subjective and up to your discretion. If the movie is any good or not, that’s for you to decide, but at least you now know what to expect from a parent's perspective.

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