My 9-year-old son and my 7-year-old nephew liked it, but it didn't blow them away. Although not "violent" in terms of graphic gore and stuff, this is about 60% "war movie." My son knew the characters from the 6 "real" movies, but my nephew didn't and he didn't really understand the back story or plot beyond the immediate action. As an adult fan (but not hardcore) of the franchise, I thought this was just OK. Very literal and kind of obvious. But not a bad way to kill a couple hours. Not life-changing, but adequate as mental junk food.