Richard Donner, the director of 1978’s Superman starring Christopher Reeve, responds to Martin Scorsese’s comments on the genre. Donner comes to the debate with a unique perspective. At the time it was made, his Superman adaptation was far from a guaranteed success. The most expensive movie made up to that point, with a $55 million budget, it was actually considered something of a risk.
The controversy began as Scorsese was promoting The Irishman in late 2019. While he acknowledged that individual films in Marvel franchises are well-made, featuring actors that were trying to do good work, he compared them to theme parks and admitted he couldn’t invest in them. As he continued to be asked about his view, Scorsese doubled down. That led to counterresponses from the likes of James Gunn and Joss Whedon. Now, with a bit of distance from the dispute, Donner has weighed in with his two cents.
Speaking with The Telegraph on a variety of topics, Donner responded to Scorsese’s remarks. In relatively brief comments, Donner showed that he understood the general arguments of both sides. While he could see why Scorsese and others are inclined to dismiss superhero stories, the legendary director also offered a defense of the genre. You can read Donner’s quote below.
“The problem is, a lot of times, we see in our industry that when the technical lens becomes readily available, it’s totally misused. But at the same time, every once in a while you really see quite a wonderful story with one of these films.”
Donner effectively summarizes the key points of disagreement for anyone that might’ve missed the flareup that occurred in the aftermath of Scorsese’s initial comments. For those who agree with the Goodfellas director, superhero movies are deeply flawed projects that invariably devolve into a CGI overload for the third act. Fans of Marvel and DC measuredly argued that, although this particular critique certainly had merit, it was not reflective of the whole superhero experience. Just as Donner correctly states, many films that fall under the category of a comic book adaptation ably tell emotional stories and provide memorable scenes which connect with viewers on a deep level. Donner’s response, on the whole, avoids skewing to one extreme or another. He’s aware that something as financially successful as superhero movies should be looked at with a bit of healthy skepticism, while still recognizing their worth.
At least at first, Scorsese was not intending to give a careful assessment of the genre. The director was only saying, in so many words, that it wasn’t his kind of a movie. But because of his legendary status, the subject exploded, and Scorsese eventually offered his more reflective view to The New York Times. The controversy, nonetheless, has been helpful in underlining the positives and negatives to the kind of feature film that was once a risk when Donner was making Superman. These days, it has come to dominate Hollywood.
Source: The Telegraph