In the wake of Nightcrawler director Dan Gilroy’s comments at the Independent Spirit awards and Jack Black’s number at the Oscars, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has come out in defense of the superhero movie, insisting that just as much love goes into his films as those of any other more celebrated “auteur”.
Superhero films have become a force to be reckoned with at the box office, as evidenced by the marvel Cinematic Universe and Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. With over 40 comic-based films planned for release in the coming years, superhero features aren’t going away anytime soon. However, despite the financial success of these movies, they rarely receive recognition in major categories from prestigious organizations such as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier director Joe Russo commented on the subject last year, pointing out that the superhero genre is generally thought of in terms of economic success rather than artistic achievement. Now, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has responded to recent criticisms of superhero films.
Gunn took to his Facebook page to write about the aforementioned attitude, specifically citing two moments from this past weekend’s award shows. While he noted that he had no problem with Jack Black’s joke about superhero movies in the opening number of the Oscars, he did take particular issue with a comment made by Nightcrawler writer/director Dan Gilroy at the Independent Spirit Awards, and expressed his feelings about elitist views of comic book movies. You can read his message in its entirety below:
We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves. There seems to be this line drawn in the sand as to what kind of movie you have to make in order for it to be significant or meaningful. But movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, The Avengers and more all move some people just as much as a film like Boyhood, Whiplash or Birdman. And while nobody would suggest that every superhero movie has hit the mark over the last few years, genre-bashing almost always ends up as a reductive argument.
