Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) - Parents Guide Movie Rating

MPA: PG-13 BBFC: 12 Maturity Rating 13+

MPAA Reason: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action throughout, and some sensuality.

BBFC Reason: moderate violence, threat Fearing that the actions of Superman are left unchecked, Batman takes on the Man of Steel, while the world wrestles with what kind of a hero it really needs.

BBFC Ratings info: BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE is a fantasy action thriller in which Batman seeks vengeance on Superman for the deaths he inadvertently caused in the destruction of Metropolis. Violence: There are frequent scenes of moderate violence, including fistfights, gunfights, use of bladed weapons, and fantastical action between superpowered beings. Blood and injury detail is limited, with very brief detail of leg wounds, a chest wound, and a scar caused by a man being branded. Threat: Scenes of threat include characters being held at gunpoint, people avoiding falling masonry, and a character experiencing nightmarish visions including that of a large monstrous bat. There is occasional use of mild bad language, including 'son of a bitch', 'shit', and 'piss'. Brief implied sexual activity includes a man and woman kissing in a bath.

Sex & Nudity

mild

Gal Gadot wears low cut dress and back revealing dresses throughout the movies. There is partial nudity of Zod's dead body. Ultimate Edition only: Bruce Wayne's bare buttocks are briefly visible when he's taking a shower. Clark walks in on Lois in a bath. Any nudity is obscured by the water. Clark enters the bath and sex is implied. Men appear shirtless throughout the film, primarily the titular characters. Nothing sexual about them though. Wonder Woman's costume has a skirt, as seen in images.

Violence & Gore

moderate

All violence featured in the film is infrequent. Mostly all happens during the last act. It can be brutal with heavy injury detail at times. Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman battle Doomsday throughout Metropolis. Every time Doomsday becomes more powerful he emits an extremely destructive shockwave causing devastating chaos. There are several instances of Doomsday brutally beating Superman and throwing him into buildings. Wonder Woman cuts off his arm with a sword. Lex Luther cuts his hand with a large knife. We see quite a but of blood dripping from his hand. There is a brief gun battle in the deserts of Africa. People are shown being gunned down, and it is implied that their bodies are being burned to make it look like Superman had killed them. During the African desert scene a man is executed by being shot in the head offscreen. Superman violently slams a terrorist through at least five brick walls. This happens really fast and suddenly. There is an extremely intense car chase between Batman and several mercenaries. There is a lot of gunfire and cars being destroyed with people inside of them. This scene is really dark because it shows Batman killing people. Batman brutally beats and bashes several mercenaries inside a warehouse. Men get shot in the chest with his grappling gun, their bones broken, and they are shown being thrown into walls and through the floors in an extremely brutal fashion. Batman is also shot a few times and stabbed in the shoulder. A man carrying a flame thrower dies due to the flamethrower exploding. A man is also killed by a grenade. In the Ultimate Edition, some of the fight scenes are extended (like the warehouse fight) and more brutal (like the knightmare scene) The first half of the movie is very light on violence or action, apart from a city destruction scene and a car chase. In the second half, there is frequent violence involving gunfire, explosions, superpowers and hand to hand combat yet little to no blood is shown throughout the film. There are several implied deaths, but very few are shown. The opening scene shows a child's parents being murdered in front of him. Although nothing is really shown, in terms of bullet impact, the scene may be too emotional/distressing for some. The father goes to punch the attacker, but is shot offscreen and then the mother wrestles with the attacker before being shot, again, offscreen. You see the parents' faces as they die. A scene of mass destruction is shown as several dozen buildings collapse and explode, implying thousands or tens-of-thousands of deaths, but not a single one is shown onscreen. A man is found with his legs crushed beneath a large object, implying they are crushed, but aside from him not being able to feel them and some amount of blood there's not much more, in terms of injury detail, to that scene. There are several screams and loud noises heard offscreen. A man is found with blood dripping from his mouth, and a bat-symbol, burnt onto his chest like he's been branded. Disturbing photos show a man who's been killed in prison as result of his "bat-branding". The burn mark is shown again, briefly. This scene may frightened some viewers. In a dream/vision, a group of soldiers shoot another group of men with no blood. Then a vigilante fights the soldiers, punching and shooting them, before snapping a man's neck, which is shown and heard. Later on in the dream/vision, a superhero walks towards the restrained vigilante who's now tied up before he shoots lasers at the two men next to the vigilante, killing them offscreen. Their muffled screams and the splatter of their guts is heard. The superhero shoves his hand into the vigilante's chest implying he is going to rip his heart out. At a senate hearing, a bomb in a man's wheelchair goes off, implying that everyone in the room, except the superhero, who appears to suffer no injury from the explosion, is killed. In order to defeat Doomsday, Superman drives a spear made of pure kryptonite into his heart. Superman is then impaled in the chest by Doomsday, killing him. After Doomsday collapses to the ground we see a glimpse of the graphic wound in Superman's chest. This scene is extremely emotional due to all of the extremely intense action going on and the loud music being played.

Profanity

moderate

Christ and Jesus Christ used as curse word. 2 uses of "son of a bitch". 1 use of "shit", multiple uses of "damn", "goddamn", "hell" and 1 use of "fuck" (in the director's cut)

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

mild

After waking up from a dream, Bruce drinks a glass of wine. In the ultimate edition, we see him take some pills before drinking the wine. People are shown drinking unspecified alcohol. A reference is made to man's alcohol use being so excessive that they will have an empty wine cellar.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

moderate

Lex Luthor is insane and a few of his scenes are quite dark and disturbing This movie is perhaps the darkest Batman movie out there. There is a nightmare scene where a half bat half man (known as Man-Bat) suddenly jumps out of a grave. It's a jumpscare and it could be disturbing for young children. There is a scene where a child's parents are murdered in front of him. Batman may come across as frightening to young children. Especially, in a scene early on when two policemen go upstairs to investigate the screams of a man being beaten up by Batman as the scene is almost like a horror movie. Batman is shown hiding in the shadows and eerily climbs across the ceiling to escape. The film has a rather dark and depressing tone to it. The ending is very emotional. Batman's dream sequence where he dreams of how the world will be if it will be under the rule of Superman is quite dark and violent, there are Batman's fighting scenes with Superman's private army soldiers, also, at the end of the fights, A flying demonic creature is approaching him and abducts him. Superman dies, which may be upsetting for some; although it's implied at the end that he is still alive.