LogFAQs > #966615821

"I dont see them. I tried, you know? But thats not cinema, Scorsese told Empire. 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 isnt the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.

Many of the elements that define cinema as I know it are there in Marvel pictures. Whats not there is revelation, mystery or genuine emotional danger. Nothing is at risk. The pictures are made to satisfy a specific set of demands, and they are designed as variations on a finite number of themes.

They are sequels in name but they are remakes in spirit, and everything in them is officially sanctioned because it cant really be any other way. Thats the nature of modern film franchises: market-researched, audience-tested, vetted, modified, revetted and remodified until theyre ready for consumption.

Another way of putting it would be that they are everything that the films of Paul Thomas Anderson or Claire Denis or Spike Lee or Ari Aster or Kathryn Bigelow or Wes Anderson are not. When I watch a movie by any of those filmmakers, I know Im going to see something absolutely new and be taken to unexpected and maybe even unnameable areas of experience. My sense of what is possible in telling stories with moving images and sounds is going to be expanded.

So, you might ask, whats my problem? Why not just let superhero films and other franchise films be? The reason is simple. In many places around this country and around the world, franchise films are now your primary choice if you want to see something on the big screen.

When Martin Scorsese says that the Marvel pictures are not cinema, hes right because we expect to learn something from cinema, we expect to gain something, some enlightenment, some knowledge, some inspiration.

I dont know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again. Martin was kind when he said its not cinema. He didnt say its despicable, which I just say it is.