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Denis Villeneuve Says ‘Cut and Paste’ Marvel Movies Have ‘Turned Us Into Zombies’
- Thread starter Revolutionary
- Start date
QuantumZebra
Member
Fair enough, but I would also say that those aren't "films". You *can* judge Citizen Kane vs. Iron-Man because they are both fictional story-driven films, IMO. But there is an argument to be made that say, Endgame is a 10/10 popcorn flick. But that is just too granular and wishy-washy to define.
So in order to enjoy a funny / popcorn flick that isn't an Oscar-bait film... you have to be stupid?
That's a tall assumption there, pal.
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SlimySnake
Flashless at the Golden Globes
He's right. I have been trashing marvel movies for almost a decade now. I dont understand how you can watch the same exact movie over and over again. He is a 100% right about copy pasta.
They are movies made for kids who used to play with Action figures. The fact that they came mostly after TDK, Watchmen and Batman Begins is even more disheartening because they basically embraced the 90s Batman movies instead of the Nolan movies that showed that comic book movies can be so much more.
Hell, Id rather watch 90s action movies like Face/Off, Con Air, Terminator 2, True Lies, Titanic and The Rock than some of the forgettable trash marvel has put out over the years. Even Doctor Strange which had so much potential was a basically Iron Man with portals. So many amazing visuals with buildings shifting and yet the movie pales in comparison to inception.
Even 2000 non comic book movies like Gladiator, LOTR, Harry Potter series were all way better made than Marvel movies which feel like made for tv movies in comparison.
They are movies made for kids who used to play with Action figures. The fact that they came mostly after TDK, Watchmen and Batman Begins is even more disheartening because they basically embraced the 90s Batman movies instead of the Nolan movies that showed that comic book movies can be so much more.
Hell, Id rather watch 90s action movies like Face/Off, Con Air, Terminator 2, True Lies, Titanic and The Rock than some of the forgettable trash marvel has put out over the years. Even Doctor Strange which had so much potential was a basically Iron Man with portals. So many amazing visuals with buildings shifting and yet the movie pales in comparison to inception.
Even 2000 non comic book movies like Gladiator, LOTR, Harry Potter series were all way better made than Marvel movies which feel like made for tv movies in comparison.
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I collect VHS tapes
Member
Yes and no, most Oscar-bait films are trash too.
Stuart360
Member
I agree with him, but at the same time i dont really have a problem with Marvel films, and if people like them.
I just wish there werent so many of them, you know multiple films a year, and then tv shows on top. Its complete overkill and still they gross huge. I mean its been years of this shit and this stuff usually goes in cycles but there is no hint of this slowing down at all.
I just wish there werent so many of them, you know multiple films a year, and then tv shows on top. Its complete overkill and still they gross huge. I mean its been years of this shit and this stuff usually goes in cycles but there is no hint of this slowing down at all.
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Yoboman
Member
I can enjoy Marvel movies for what they are. Fun popcorn movies. And they have always been a bit formulaic but then you get the occasional gem that breaks the formula a bit is genuinely great for it eg GOTG, Thor Ragnarok, the Infinity Saga
I also enjoy Denis Villeneuve movies. But I could also go and say something like Incendies was a true masterpiece and now he is making cut and paste licensed sci fi movies
I also enjoy Denis Villeneuve movies. But I could also go and say something like Incendies was a true masterpiece and now he is making cut and paste licensed sci fi movies
Pegasus Actual
Member
I mean you don't have to be. But it certainly helps.
SentientStone
Member
He's right, just look at all the chaos around the world due to tribalism caused by Mahvel!
Werewolf Jones
Member
All of his films are shit though lol.
IntentionalPun
Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
The zombies created the marvel movies, not the other way around.
And there's nothing wrong with being a zombie sometimes. If you can't enjoy a bunch of different kinds of cinema then that's on you.
Either way Denis V is rad and his comment wasn't even that cynical. He finishes the statement basically saying he thinks there's plenty of money being thrown at great films and he isn't pessimistic.
And there's nothing wrong with being a zombie sometimes. If you can't enjoy a bunch of different kinds of cinema then that's on you.
Either way Denis V is rad and his comment wasn't even that cynical. He finishes the statement basically saying he thinks there's plenty of money being thrown at great films and he isn't pessimistic.
Revolutionary
Member
He said something even the slightest bit critical of Marvel and Disney, good sir. He deserves nothing less than death.
Cockles & Whelks
Banned
He said something even the slightest bit critical of Marvel and Disney, good sir. He deserves nothing less than death.
That was probably Ridley Scott pitching Prometheus 3.
Hari Seldon
Member
Fuck with the mouse or the mouse's shitty movies and you better ride and hide!
FunkMiller
Member
Once you stop treating the MCU as movies, and start seeing it as what it actually are: a very expensive tv series - it all makes a bit more sense.
DKehoe
Member
His two most recent films both had budgets over $150 million. Not like he's not getting backing for what he wants to do.In other words, Kevin Feige please give me a movie. I want to make money.
Cockles & Whelks
Banned
Give Marvel it's dues, the What If Dr Strange episode blew me away. Fantastic. And like all drama, heartbreaking
GeorgPrime
Banned
That explains my thirst for blood and my hunger for brains. Thats normal right? Guys? Tell me thats fine. Guys?
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poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
I agree that the marvel movies are cut and paste but I don't think they have turned us into zombies. Summer action blockbusters were already formulaic, the 'universe' actually makes the marvel movies a little more interesting.
I'll be going to the theater to see Dune just like I did Black Widow and Shang-Chi.
I'll be going to the theater to see Dune just like I did Black Widow and Shang-Chi.
MaestroMike
Gold Member
If it ain't broken dont fix it disney is the king at the box office for a reason and action movies are action movies story doesn't matter as much for this genre people into these type of movies get their kicks from sweet action sequences a nice story is just a cherry on top you want a sweet story read a book
Thirty7ven
Banned
Some of these directors are too enamored with themselves. You make movies pal, get a grip.
Hell you are making a remake, your last movie was a sequel, at the end of the day you aren’t really bringing anything new to the table. Making it more boring doesn’t make it better.
Hell you are making a remake, your last movie was a sequel, at the end of the day you aren’t really bringing anything new to the table. Making it more boring doesn’t make it better.
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JonSnowball
Member
Most of the Marvel films are shot like low budget television shows and feel partially improvised with shoddy acting. They're still fun to watch for the most part, but they're Michael Bay Transformers sequel level movies....except the Transformers movies were filmed better...I mean - did anyone watch the trailer for Spider-Man : No Way Home? It looks so damn cheap and poorly done...I miss Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films...it'll be interesting to see how his Doctor Strange movie turns out. Those Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies actually felt like theatrical films with talent and effort behind them from a technical standpoint.
I thought the origin movies or whatever you'd call them were alright, then a steep downhill turn around Avengers that felt like it was filmed by a college student. The Guardians of the Galaxy films are probably the most theatrical feeling out of the entire Marvel film universe.
I thought the origin movies or whatever you'd call them were alright, then a steep downhill turn around Avengers that felt like it was filmed by a college student. The Guardians of the Galaxy films are probably the most theatrical feeling out of the entire Marvel film universe.
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sol_bad
Member
It's kind of weird how people shit on the MCU for being mindless films when pop culture and popular films have always been about mindless fun.
Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Total Recall, Robocop, Jaws, Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, The Goonies.
It's all mindless fun, none of them have anything important to say or have deep themes.
Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Total Recall, Robocop, Jaws, Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, The Goonies.
It's all mindless fun, none of them have anything important to say or have deep themes.
pauljeremiah
Gold Member
He's totally right. I love to see a film that comes out of a director's quixotic, personal, passionate imagination, and not a film that is manufactured to entertain large numbers of people efficiently, even those I am often among those entertained.
I love to be entertained, I love those movies, but the ones that really move me are the ones where a director felt that something had to be said and he or she said it.
Film schools used to have the values of the liberal arts schools, now film schools are more allied to business schools in terms of their values. Success, money, achievement, and power, rather than vision, imagination, truth, and social change.
I love to be entertained, I love those movies, but the ones that really move me are the ones where a director felt that something had to be said and he or she said it.
Film schools used to have the values of the liberal arts schools, now film schools are more allied to business schools in terms of their values. Success, money, achievement, and power, rather than vision, imagination, truth, and social change.
JonSnowball
Member
None of the examples you listed are generic as a large portion of the Marvel films are, that's where the criticism is. Every example you gave is a well produced film, they aren't churned out sequels that are difficult to distinguish from one another...
Not to say I hate the Marvel films, in fact there's several I really enjoy, but a large portion of them over the last several years feel incredibly similar as if Disney/Marvel have mandated they all have a similar sense of humour and are shot the same - a couple of the recent releases feel like budget television shows with high-end effects.
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Amiga
Member
the action themes of the MCU are silly. but the character development is deep. they are different people start/middle/end evolved through what they went through. Nolan's Batman is the same throughout the movies.
and the similarity in some production is deliberate because the MCU is one story.
sol_bad
Member
The MCU films are well produced as well. And majority of directors have their own significant feel to them.
Black Panther feels similar in tone to Fruitvale Station and Creed.
Thor: Ragnorak feels similar in tone to Boy, What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
Guardians of the Galaxy feels similar in tone to Super and The Suicide Squad.
The Russo brothers films all feel similar to each other in tone and different to the other MCU films.
Iron Man 3 feels like a Shane Black film.
Each film has a different tone and different structure to them.
Iron Man 1, 2 and 3 are all completely different films. So are Thor 1, 2 and 3.
Ant-Man 1 and 2 have completely different structures.
Except he's not. He's adapting the Dune novel. The David Lynch Dune film is not an original IP.
Even though there was a mini-series from a while back, Dune hasn't graced the silver screen since 1984.
Compare that to the multi-release phase approach of MCU films + the accompanying series formats on streams.
He directed a sequel to one of the most preeminent films in all of science fiction.
A film that hasn't received any sort of direct sequel since 1987 until one of the original screenwriters thought it was worth telling a new story in that world.
This isn't even considering his previous films like Prisoners, Sicario, Enemy, Incendies, Arrival. Some are original screenplays, some of which are loosely adapted from lesser-known novels or plays.
To claim he hasn't brought anything new to the table is a stretch imo.
The last thing I would call any of those films is "mindless". Fun, yes, but not mindless.
I don't understand the desire to spin being vacuous into a positive quality.
A good film is not mindless, even if it's comedy or pure action. Good comedy is cleverly written and requires you to get the humor, for example. That's like the opposite of mindless.
Good action requires amazing choreography and editing to have the most visceral impact on the senses.
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VN1X
Banned
My gf loves the Marvel films (so much so that she watches them multiple times) and really, really wanted me to see Captain Marvel as well. I finally caved but damn... 
Meanwhile I'm trying to get her to watch actual good shit like Jackie Brown, The Game, Alien, Logan, The Vengeance Trilogy, Apocalypse Now, etc (just to name a few) but instead she'd rather just watch Iron Man 3 again "because it's been years since she last saw it". Bless her heart but fuckin' hell lol.
That said I did manage to get her to watch Prisoners a while a go so that's a win!
Meanwhile I'm trying to get her to watch actual good shit like Jackie Brown, The Game, Alien, Logan, The Vengeance Trilogy, Apocalypse Now, etc (just to name a few) but instead she'd rather just watch Iron Man 3 again "because it's been years since she last saw it". Bless her heart but fuckin' hell lol.
That said I did manage to get her to watch Prisoners a while a go so that's a win!
sol_bad
Member
No they will continue to exist. For many years to come yet.
Tschumi
Member
Happosai
Hold onto your panties
I think we've been Zombies ever since the year 1997. That to me seemed like the turning point year of recycled cookie cut movies and sequels trending. When practical effects, veteran actors, respectable composers, and new ideas started leaving Hollywood; 85% of everything I saw come out was zombie fodder.
TaylorSwiftFan
Member
I don’t like the MCU movies in general (too dumb) and I don’t like Villeneuve’s movies in general (too pretentious).
TaylorSwiftFan
Member
Prisoners and Sicario were actually very good. He should stay away from sci-fi though.
SidViscous
Member
His take on Bladerunner was fucking awful and since moving into directing he's left every studio he's worked with in debt. He needs to get off his high horse because a standing ovation at a film festival isn't success in the real world.
GymWolf
Member
Dude, you just hired fucking batista, zendaya and acquaman because they are famous from all the superhero stuff they do, surely not only for their acting skills (unless you like acceptable actors at best), not sure why he feels about shitting on marvel since they do a complete different type of cinema than him.
Sniffing your ownfarts much?!
And this come from a guy who gives 2 shits about superhero movies.
Sniffing your ownfarts much?!
And this come from a guy who gives 2 shits about superhero movies.
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Cyberpunkd
Member
I had a conversation about MCU yesterday with someone. He told me that 25 movies were only ‘Phase1’. I was like:
Rekki-Maru
Banned
Black Panther, shits in that fool's mouth.
Lunarorbit
Member
These two have really lost perspective on what it means to be creative in cinema.
Martin has made nothing but gangster movies for the last 50 years and he has the balls to critique marvel movies? If de Niro, new York, or mob hits aren't in the movie that he's lost. Try writing and directing a comedy and get back to me Marty.
Dennis is even worse trying to twist himself out of being in a pretzel. Oh I don't mind big budgets like marvel he says but I'm trying to do something different. Really? Redoing an 80s movie based on a book? So you're doing game of thrones on space with the space slug from empire strikes back? Got it.
Fucking hypocrites. Be salty that Disney has a legion of creative writers. But to say it's all the same? Well so are your movies guys
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