Samuel L. Jackson Doesn't Hold Back When it Comes to Scorsese's MCU Criticism
The great director made some uncomplimentary remarks about Marvel, and received a sharp response.
Martin Scorsese has been consistently recognized as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of our time.
His films, including Taxi Driver, Gangs of New York, and Shutter Island, have been acclaimed by viewers around the world and have earned him many awards, including Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy, and others.
But apparently the great filmmaker has a disdain for superhero movies.
In an interview with Empire magazine, Martin stated that he does not consider the Marvel movies to be real ones. He admitted that he tried to watch them but could not – he sees them as pretense, not drama.
"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," the director said.
Such a review of superhero movies, and MCU in particular, caused a flurry of indignation not only among fans, but also among actors. Samuel L. Jackson, for example, responded sharply to the director.
"That's kind of like saying Bugs Bunny ain't funny. Films are films. You know, everybody doesn't like his stuff either. […] There are a lot of Italian-Americans that don't think he should be making films about them like that. Everybody's got an opinion, so it's okay," the actor commented in his interview with Variety.
James Gunn was also asked for his opinion on Scorsese's words, to which he replied that the director's comments were meant to draw attention to the release of his new film The Irishman, since his films are released in the shadow of superhero movies and do not get the attention they actually deserve.
Still, the director's original films inspire his peers.
Joker director Todd Phillips said he was inspired by classic 1970s dramas while working on the psychopath movie. Among them was Taxi Driver, directed by Scorsese in 1976.
The Scorsese movies and the Marvel movies have very different goals. As the director said, Iron Man, Thor and other similar installments are indeed mainly aimed at entertaining the audience as much as possible, and there is nothing wrong with that.
While Scorsese's films tell the fate of the hero, his personality, motives and experiences are revealed. These are two completely different genres of cinema, and each has its own devoted audience who choose what they want to see.