Ridley Scott says superhero movies are “boring as shit”
Scott echoes filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Denis Villeneuve who have also criticised superhero films in the past
Ridley Scott has described superhero movies as “boring as shit”, claiming that their scripts are “not any fucking good”.
Following several conversations in recent years that have seen filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Denis Villeneuve dispute the artistic credibility of Marvel films, Scott is the latest cinematic voice to weigh in.
Speaking to Deadline, the Oscar-winning director said: “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.”
He continued: “Their scripts are not any fucking good. I think I’ve done three great scripted superhero movies. One would be ‘Alien’ with Sigourney Weaver. One would be fucking ‘Gladiator’, and one would be Harrison Ford [from ‘Blade Runner’].
“They’re superhero movies. So, why don’t the superhero movies have better stories? Sorry. I got off the rail, but I mean, c’mon. They’re mostly saved by special effects, and that’s becoming boring for everyone who works with special effects, if you’ve got the money.”
When the interviewer noted that the ‘House of Gucci’ director wouldn’t choose a superhero film as his dream project, because he already considers himself to have made three, Scott said: “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.”
Scott’s comments come shortly after ‘Dune’ director Denis Villeneuve described Marvel films as “cut and paste” jobs. Speaking to El Mundo and reported by IndieWire, the director said: “Perhaps the problem is that we are in front of too many Marvel movies that are nothing more than a ‘cut and paste’ of others.
He also said that perhaps that genre of film has “turned us into zombies a bit”.
In October 2019, Martin Scorsese made similar remarks when he told Empire he struggled to keep up to date with superhero films. “I tried, you know?” he said. “But that’s not cinema.”
He continued: “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.”