Parents Say Knight Too Dark for Kids

Parents who saw the PG-13 rating attached to The Dark Knight and decided to bring the kids along are walking away, if not dissatisfied, then a little miffed. “I know it's a good movie, but it should have been rated R,” one surprised mother tells USA Today. Another parent was less equivocal. “There has to be a way to tell parents that someone is going to get a pencil in the skull.”

The lack of child-friendliness also worries industry watchers. “This is definitely a comic-book movie for adults,” an observer said. “That's part of what makes it so powerful. But it could also limit the kind of repeat business it can do.” A more knowing parent, who left the kids at home, chided the astonished ones. “Did anyone not know this was a violent movie about a homicidal maniac in makeup?” (More Batman stories.)