Following controversial comments from Martin Scorsese stating the Marvel movies are not to be considered cinema, now the legendary director behind the Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola, agrees and goes even further and slams the MCU, which sees Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn respond on social media.
Coppola recently appeared in Frace, where he was being honored at the Lumiere festival, and while being a part of a press conference in Lyon stated that he agrees with Scorsese about the Marvel movies.
“Martin was being kind when he said it wasn’t cinema,” Coppola said. “He didn’t say it was despicable, which is what I say.”
Coppola continues bashing Marvel as he says the films are all the same.
“We expect from cinema that it brings us something, some enlightenment, some knowledge, some inspiration,” he said. “I don’t think anyone takes anything away from the experience of watching the same film over and over.”
James Gunn responds to Francis Ford Coppola and Marvel bashing
Speaking of the films all being the same, director James Gunn, who consistently puts out the same type of parodic approaches to movies, responded to Francis Ford Coppola’s comments on Instagram:
Many of our grandfathers thought all gangster movies were the same, often calling them “despicable”. Some of our great grandfathers thought the same of westerns, and believed the films of John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, and Sergio Leone were all exactly the same. I remember a great uncle to whom I was raving about Star Wars. He responded by saying, “I saw that when it was called 2001, and, boy, was it boring!” Superheroes are simply today’s gangsters/cowboys/outer space adventurers. Some superhero films are awful, some are beautiful. Like westerns and gangster movies (and before that, just MOVIES), not everyone will be able to appreciate them, even some geniuses. And that’s okay.
Martin Scorsese doesn’t like Marvel movies
Regarding Martin Scorsese’s comments about Marvel and the MCU, which saw Robert Downey Jr. respond, Scorsese said last week:
“It’s not cinema, it’s something else. We shouldn’t be invaded by it. We need cinemas to step up and show films that are narrative films. Theaters have become amusement parks. That is all fine and good but don’t invade everything else in that sense. That is fine and good for those who enjoy that type of film and, by the way, knowing what goes into them now, I admire what they do. It’s not my kind of thing, it simply is not. It’s creating another kind of audience that thinks cinema is that.”
Earlier in the month also saw Martin Scorcese slam Marvel when he told Empire:
“I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema. Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”
The controversial Marvel bashing comments follow the release of the Joaquin Phoenix Joker movie, which I have dubbed the “MCU Killer.”
