This is probably just going to get into us parsing out what “kids” are.

But putting that aside, I was born in ‘84, and I remember seeing the first one when I was around 5 or so, around the time the tv cartoon was at its peak. It was scary, and I didn’t get many of the jokes at all. But I loved it because of the gargoyle dog, Slimer, and the marshmallow man.

We saw the stage show on a trip to Universal Studios in like ‘91 or ‘92 and I loved that as well.

I think that’s what’s getting lost in a lot of this debate. There has been a generational shift over the past 20 years. 80's kids grew up watching Ghostbusters and similarly adult-oriented films being played on network tv every Saturday afternoon. My family went to see Terminator 2 on opening night… as a family! I was 7 and my family took me to a HARD-R action movie! It was no big thing. That movie had toys and trading cards, sugary cereal, you name it.

So sure, this movie may not be a “kids movie” (which I believe includes all up to 13, which is when the shift to adulthood really begins) by some estimations…

But Kevin Smith stated in his review that at the premiere there were little girls in costume bouncing around the theater. Which tells me that my generation, the parents of these kids, do believe it is a kids movie.