Ridley Scott On Why His ‘Superhero’ Movies Are Way Better Than ‘Boring’ Marvel and DC Blockbusters
The director of “Gladiator,” “Alien” and “Blade Runner” says today’s superhero movies are “f**king boring as sh*t.”
Gladiator director Ridley Scott is the latest filmmaker to tee off on the increasingly tired superhero movie genre, joining Dune helmer Dennis Villeneuve and the great Martin Scorsese in slamming comic book-derived cinema.
Scorsese previously likened Marvel and DC blockbusters to amusement park rides, and Villeneuve said they’re “cut and paste” jobs. But the 83-year-old Scott straight-up called them “fucking boring as shit” in a recent Deadline interview tied to the release of his upcoming House of Gucci.
“The best films are driven by the characters, and we’ll come to superheroes after this if you want, because I’ll crush it. I’ll fucking crush it. They’re fucking boring as shit,” Scott said per the AV Club. “[Superhero movie] scripts are not any fucking good.”
Scott went on to claim that he’s personally made “three good scripted superhero movies…One would be Alien with Sigourney Weaver. One would be fucking Gladiator, and one would be Harrison Ford [in Blade Runner]. They’re superhero movies. So, why don’t the superhero movies have better stories?”
Scott also explained why he thought the protagonist his beloved 1982 sci-fi classic had an especially interesting arc.
“Harrison Ford was one superhero but everyone was confused because he got the shit beaten out of him at the end by the other superhero, who they thought was the bad guy, but turned out to be a good guy. I think that’s pretty cool,” he said.
Another of Scott’s issues with the current state of the genre is a wide reliance on special effects.
” [Superhero movies] are mostly saved by special effects, and that’s becoming boring for everyone who works with special effects, if you’ve got the money.”
As for House of Gucci, early reviews have been mixed, as Variety notes.
Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes critic Erik Davis tweeted a glowing comparison to The Godfather.
“#HouseOfGucci has a definite GODFATHER vibe, rich w/ family betrayal, transformative performances, lots of backstabbing & it’s definitely more serious than it is campy,” Davis wrote. “Lady Gaga is incredible, as is Jared Leto, and the story is WILD! The attention to detail is impeccable.”
But We Live Entertainment founder Scott Menzel called it a ” bloated and uneven mess.”
“Every single cast member acts as though they are in a different movie except for Al Pacino, who seems to have understood the assignment and serves as the film’s MVP,” Menzel tweeted.
House of Gucci arrives in theaters on November 24.
