Ridley Scott has made it very clear that he is among the cadre of famous directors who are not fans of the superhero movie genre.
In an interview with Deadline ahead of the release of “House of Gucci,” the 83-year-old “Alien” director did not mince words in expressing how he feels about blockbuster hero flicks.
“Their scripts are not any f–king good,” he candidly told the publication in response to a question asking him to specify his main gripe with superhero films.
“I narrowed it down to this,” he said. “Almost always, 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 f–king crush it. They’re f–king boring as s–t.”
He then went on to list his own films as examples of “great scripted superhero movies” despite the movies — “Alien,” “Gladiator” and “Blade Runner” — not obviously fitting into the genre.
“They’re superhero movies,” Scott insists. “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.”
However, he does admit that the character development and plotline of “Blade Runner” makes its superhero-ness less than blatant.
“Harrison Ford was one superhero but everyone was confused because he got the s–t 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,” Ridley continued, adding, “I think that’s pretty cool.”
At least Scott has at least been watching the films. Martin Scorsese abhors the superhero genre so much that, in one 2019 interview, he told Empire he doesn’t even watch them anymore.
“I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema,” Scorsese told the magazine. “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.”