David Cronenberg Smashes Boring Superhero Films

Well, I guess not everyone is a fan of superhero movies, director David Croneneberg says he finds them mostly boring. Sure they may not be as crazy and strange as his own films, but a lot of people like myself still find them entertaining. In a recent interview with NextMovie the director talked about how Christopher Nolan didn't elevate Batman to the level it should have been, and goes on to slam the superhero comic book movie genre saying, 

I don’t think they are making them an elevated art form. I think it’s still Batman running around in a stupid cape. I just don’t think it’s elevated. Christopher Nolan’s best movie is “Memento,” and that is an interesting movie. I don’t think his Batman movies are half as interesting though they’re 20 million times the expense. What he is doing is some very interesting technical stuff, which, you know, he’s shooting IMAX and in 3-D. That’s really tricky and difficult to do. I read about it in “American Cinematography Magazine,” and technically, that’s all very interesting. The movie, to me, they’re mostly boring.

Well, first of all I'm just going to point out a little inaccuracy he made, that Nolan didn't shoot the film in 3D. I can see Cronenberg's point of view though, but I still believe Nolan is doing more than technical stuff, he's also told some great epic complicated stories that makes the audience think. When asked if he thought the subject matter prohibits the elevated art form, Cronenberg said,

Absolutely. Anybody who works in the studio system has got 20 studio people sitting on his head at every moment, and they have no respect, and there’s no…it doesn’t matter how successful you’ve been. And obviously Nolan has been very successful. He’s got a lot of power, relatively speaking. But he doesn’t really have power. [Q: So that's a no.] I would say that’s a no, you know. And the problem is you gotta… as I say, you can do some interesting, maybe unexpected things. And certainly, I’ve made the horror films and people say, “Can you make a horror film also an art film?” And I would say, “Yeah, I think you can.” But a superhero movie, by definition, you know, it’s comic book. It’s for kids. It’s adolescent in its core. That has always been its appeal, and I think people who are saying, you know, “Dark Knight Rises” is, you know, supreme cinema art,” I don’t think they know what the f**k they’re talking about.

Oh shit! Look, I enjoy Cronenberg's work, he's made some great films over the years, but it's really hard for me to agree with him on this. I see the point he's making but at the same time Cronenberg went and made a comic book movie with A History of Violence, he's also made a ton of genre movies such as The Fly, The Dead Zone, Videodrome, Scanners, The Brood, eXistenZ and a ton of other projects that I've enjoyed watching. But how are these film any better than a comic book superhero movie? They all tell a story, and I think if it's a good story that entertains people it doesn't matter where the source material came from. I just don't understand why he thinks comic book films can't be art, because they are... just like his films are art. 

What do you think about Cronenberg's thoughts on comic book movies? Do you agree or disagree with him? 

GeekTyrant Homepage