It's most definitely not for children. I saw it in a room full of people who love horror and blood and guts (and for whom Kill Bill is a favorite). We actually saw the film at the end of a 24-hour film marathon, and many of the other movies were exceedingly violent. But even this audience was squeamish. Though I think it makes a difference when you truly care about the person against whom the violence is committed. It is, for example, far more graphic and painful to watch than Braveheart. But I don't think it crosses the line of decency (though it dances on that line pretty hard).
The scourging, the carrying of the cross, and the actual crucifixion easily take up over half of the movie's running time and each of these segments last between 20 and 30 minutes. I think perhaps its not so much the level of violence, but that it goes on and on without letting up. In Kill Bill, for example, you could see someone's head knocked off, followed by copious amounts of blood. But after a moment the camera moves and gives you something else to look at. POTC is different in that Gibson is not letting you go anywhere. The violence is right there and the viewer is forced to deal with it, dwell on it, and think about what it means.
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The scourging, the carrying of the cross, and the actual crucifixion easily take up over half of the movie's running time and each of these segments last between 20 and 30 minutes. I think perhaps its not so much the level of violence, but that it goes on and on without letting up. In Kill Bill, for example, you could see someone's head knocked off, followed by copious amounts of blood. But after a moment the camera moves and gives you something else to look at. POTC is different in that Gibson is not letting you go anywhere. The violence is right there and the viewer is forced to deal with it, dwell on it, and think about what it means.