I really like this movie a lot, but one thing that annoyed me upon rewatching it was a major lack of any blood and gore. I understand that they didn't want an R rating, but the lack of blood is just ridiculous. Like when Xavier is shot and Magneto pulls out the bullet, there's no blood on it. In fact, it looks like it was fired into a regular shooting target. And when Magneto kills the Nazis in Argentina, there's no blood despite him stabbing and shooting them. The same goes for when he crushes the helmets of those two Nazis in the beginning.
What are you going to do? Since there are restrictions on blood use in PG-13 movies and PG-13 rated movies are an important part of the Hollywood business model, they can either tell the stories they want sans blood (except in cases where they can get away with it) or butcher scripts so that they never put characters in a situation where blood should appear. For example, which is worse; Wolverine not having blood on his claws after he impales someone or him only ever pulling his claws out to threaten people but never stabbing them (except maybe off camera) and instead he only ever knocks people out with his fists on screen?
The only "bloody" scene is the coin through the head and even that wasn't as gory as it could have been. Raiders of the Lost Ark had a lot more blood and gore, and it was rated PG. Of course that was the '80s, but the gory violence made the film feel more real. And the lack of almost any blood in FC just undercuts the violence and gives it no sense of reality.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a PG because the PG-13 rating didn't exist yet. It's interesting, though, that you brought up Indiana Jones because outrage over Temple of Doom is the reason we have the PG-13 rating. People were screaming that it should have been R-rated and in response it was actually Spielberg who suggested a compromise to the Motion Picture Association of an in-between rating.
Of course, since then different rules have been adopted for what crosses the line into an R-rating. It's unfortunate, I agree, but I don't see how it's productive to take issue with individual PG-13 movies when it's a systemic problem caused by largely arbitrary MPAA rules.
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