STICKING THEIR CLAWS IN

Last year’s Wolverine film Logan was well-received by everyone.

Well, almost everyone. Despite critics loving it and a decent box office performance, the Hugh Jackman film was the most-complained about film at UK cinemas in 2017.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is in charge of rating films in this country, and it received 20 separate complaints from viewers who felt the BBFC had rated Logan incorrectly. The film had a 15 rating, but a handful of folk thought that the film’s violence was strong enough that it should’ve been an 18 instead.

In its report, the BBFC said: “Members of the public who wrote in felt that the film’s violence was too strong for a 15 classification and would have been more appropriately placed at 18. However, the BBFC classification guidelines permit strong violence at 15, provided it does not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. While the violence in Logan is strong and frequently bloody, it is also rapidly edited with a focus on action rather than sadism. The film’s fantastical setting and super-powered central character further distances the violence from reality, allowing the issue to be acceptable at 15.”

So there.

In context, last year’s most complained about film was Deadpool (51 complainants), while the honour went to Spectre in 2016 (40).

So what else upset people this year?

The second mostcomplained about film was a Hindi-language epic called Padmaavat. The 12A film generated controversy when it came out not because of violence, but because some disagreed with its portrayal of the 13th-century Indian queen Padmini. The BBFC said it received 10 complaints that it “misrepresented a revered figure in India”, but that “nothing in Padmaavat is unacceptable at the 12A category”.

The third was Charlize Theron’s surprisingly violent thriller Atomic Blonde which eight people complained about. The BBFC defended that ffiillm’sms 15 rating, saying: “There are frequent scenes of strong violence in the film, including people being shot, resulting in large spurts of blood into the air or onto walls, and gruelling fist fights. However, the violence is presented in a stylised manner.” Having just watched Atomic Blonde again last weekend, I can kind of see the point - it was pretty hardcore in places. I don’t feel strongly enough about it to complain to the BBFC, but you know, it shows that film ratings are as much an art as they are a science. It’s subjective, and one man’s 15 is another man’s 18.

You can never make everyone happy, but just 20 complaints for Logan says to me that the BBFC is doing a pretty good job.

Logan, main picture, was the most complained about film this year while Deadpool, bottom right, claimed that honour the year before. Atomic Blonde was this year’s third most complained about film