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Lots of critics don't seem to get superhero movies

posted 7 years ago by DarthRoger (867)
6 replies | jump to latest

So I just read an online article at Vox, written by Tod VanDerWerff. This writer laments that Marvel Studios hasn't really "taken on" American hegemony by being more political with their storylines. He seems to suggest that Black Panther is a move in the right direction but that even it lets up at the end.

In reading this piece, I was struck at just how little Mr. VanDerWerff seems to understand about comic books and comic book movies in general. This isn't just a confusion on his part, he flat-out doesn't get the point of the movies. He wants them to make big, bold anti-American statements, thus surely alienating at least 65% of the consumers who throng to see Marvel movies.

It's called FUN, Mr. VanDerWerff!

Aren't our daily lives already consumed enough with left-think and right-think talking points, constantly hurled at us? It's all in our news, on T.V. and in water cooler conversations. You can't get away from it and it's aggravating. Superhero movies give audiences a slate of characters we can ALL root for and invest (both emotionally and philosophically) in their stories. Why sully these stories by injecting one worldview and political points into the mix?

Trust me, Marvel Studios needs to steer clear of divisive politics and keep their stories intriguing, tight and fun (there's that word again). You can make a movie like Black Panther or Captain America: Civil War, which address big questions (as they relate to our current state of things), without getting overly partisan. Both of those movies were good at asking hard questions, without crossing a line.

Marvel Studios should take heed of what happened to Marvel's comics line, when they chose to go PC and change the origins and motivations of popular characters. Their sales plummeted. Comic book readers (the ones who buy and read comic books), hated the revised characters and stories. That's not ole Darth here, making stuff up. It's a cold fact. Just look at their sales numbers from the new lines. They suck. Marvel Comics has previously acknowledged "a problem" with their new lines, although they haven't been totally honest about the cause.

So please Marvel Studios, keep turning out quality movies and don't muddy them with ugly politics. It would be the downfall of the superhero movie genre. Remember the fun. That's what made your current run of 18 movies a huge financial success and a joy to behold by audiences. Simple, heartfelt, childlike FUN!!!

[–] Otter (24464) 7 years ago

I agree with your points. Yes, critics don't truly appreciate fun movies. Serious dramas make them feel like they've devoted their lives to an Important Art Form, so they always praise serious or pretentious dramas more highly than fun movies like the Marvel films.

As for politicizing, Marvel isn't going to do that because it doesn't make economic sense for them to do so. Their movies cost hundreds of millions of dollars each and in order to be profitable they need to have about 1/2 of the world's entire population buying tickets... so they're not going to alienate anyone by getting overtly political! Which has actually turned out to be one of their strengths. In order to get billions of people into theaters they need to build their films around universal themes - Black Panther losing his father and becoming a man in his own right, the Guardians of the Galaxy bonding as friends, etc. Their films aren't just dumb fun (not JUST), the best of them can be quite touching, because everyone can identify with the characters' emotional issues.

[–] Kingswood (1307) 7 years ago

in order to be profitable they need to have about 1/2 the world's entire population buying tickets

I think your math is off just a tad.

3.8 billion tickets* x ~$10 a ticket = $38 billion

Per Mojo, the #1 worldwide grossing movie was Avatar at ~$2,8 billion

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/

*current World pop is ~7.6 billion

[–] Otter (24464) 7 years ago

Exaggerated to make a point, because I don't do math unless I'm paid to.

[–] jimmyzimms (76) 7 years ago

as someone that does does math for a living, I fully embrace your sentiment and in fact, plan to make that a shirt/motto :)

[–] KD637 (488) 7 years ago

Yes, critics don't seem to get superhero movies, but not (only) in the way you think. Sure, I'll be the first one to disagree when critics bash any movie based on politics, even worse if based on lack of politics. But almost all Marvel movies are still a low quality trash greatly overrated by critics. The problem is, they in fact DO rate superhero movies based on fun. And this is exactly the problem, there's only 2 factors critics take into consideration when rating such movies - fun and politics. The Dark Knight showed us that superhero movies don't have to be just mindless entertainment and it didn't carry a political message either. It stands on its own merits despite its genre.

In my opinion, superhero movies should be rated based on same qualifications as any other movie - Acting, script, cinematography, editing, sound... we shouldn't make exceptions just because children and manchildren consider stuff like le epic Hulk-smash the best thing in history of the cinema.

As for your worries that Marvel will muddy their films with politics, I wouldn't worry too much. Marvel literally doesn't care about anything besides profit. For example, take a look at how safe they played it with Black Panther, the story was as non-controversial/provoking as it could be. Expect more of the same.

[–] Kingswood (1307) 7 years ago

almost all Marvel movies are still a low quality trash greatly overrated by critics

https://1dcafe.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/stupid_idiots_banner2.jpg