The Batman was the most complained-about movie of 2022 in the UK
The Batman has been confirmed as the most complained-about movie in the UK last year.
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has released its annual report, which looks at classification decisions over the year.
It reveals that they received a total of 84 complaints over 2022, and the biggest number went towards the DC movie with 22.
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Most concerned its 15 rating for "strong threat and violence", with mostly children under 15 feeling that it was "too restrictive" and would "prevent younger children who would like to see the film from watching it at the cinema".
"The Batman presents a bleak vision of Gotham City in which Batman teams up with a detective to solve a series of murders," it adds. "The killer subjects his victims to sadistic devices designed to terrorise them prior to their death.
"The tone is consistently dark, and the film depicts its world as less fantastical than previous big-screen iterations of the Batman character.
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"As such, the film exceeded our guidelines for a 12A classification, but is suitable for audiences of 15 and above. The APCV and our Youth Panel both expressed support for the 15 rating after viewing the film."
The report reveals that there were nine complaints regarding Marvel's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, with "concerns" over its horror elements under a 12A rating.
"We considered this issue carefully when classifying the film," they stated, noting that their research "has shown that violence and horror that occur in a real-world setting register more strongly with viewers than violence and horror that are clearly stylised or fantastical".
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They added that the given "fantastical setting of the film and the superpowers of the characters, these sequences are clearly distanced from real-world events, meaning we could accept them at 12A".
The BBFC also confirmed that they had nine complaints about Minions: The Rise of Gru "from people who felt its scenes of violence were too strong for a U rating".
"At U, violence will generally be very mild," they added. "We may be able to accept mild violence at U if the context (for example, comedic, animated, wholly unrealistic) justifies it. Given the animated, comic context of the violence in Minions: The Rise of Gru, we could accept the film at U."
The Batman is available to buy now on 4K Blu-ray, standard Blu-ray and DVD.
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