Take this video, the latest (as of writing this) from one of my favourite YouTube content creators, Tony Zhou:
Huh…okay then! (Video courtesy of Every Frame a Painting).
Now, I love Tony Zhou’s work. The world of film is confusing and complicated to piece together, and Tony’s work always brightens my day because of how well he simplifies it. So when he announced that his newest episode would be 13 minutes long on his Twitter page, I was excited. I figured this’d be his magnum opus, his video to top all videos. Sadly, while I ended up appreciating the end-result, I was severely let-down because it, essentially, boiled down to yet another deconstruction of what the MCU lacks.
I’ve been meaning to write this piece ever since my last on the MCU, but what finally got me to do it was this video. However, it isn’t specifically about Tony’s dissertation, even though he’s ragged on the MCU on several occasions, but rather the growing subset that always feels a need to criticize the franchise for being too workmanlike. I’ve heard it on Twitter, in videos and on blog sites many times, so while Tony might’ve made me crack, this was a rant long in the works.
For those unaware, the MCU is a superhero franchise that started in 2008 with Iron Man. Since then, it’s spanned almost 14 films and several one-shots, a few comics and a handful of television shows on TV and Netflix. Like Tony said, the franchise is currently the highest-grossing in film, with several entries cracking the $1 billion mark at the box-office. And not a single entry is below the threshold of “Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes.
So yeah, the MCU’s a big deal, leading to both praise and backlash. It’s also created a rift between serious film buffs, with many loving it and others being overly-critical of it. I used to be in the latter category, simply because the films weren’t grabbing me initially. But I’ve come to respect it in time and love it for what it is. I don’t think it’s the greatest franchise ever-the only film entry I’d give the title of “great” to is Iron Man-but that doesn’t mean I won’t occasionally watch an entry and enjoy it for what it is.
I think part of what bothers me is how a lot of the criticism comes off as unfairly critical. It picks apart what “doesn’t work”, missing, in my opinion, what does. And besides, it’s art. Whether or not you like art, it’s not objectively awful. There’ll always be aspects of anything artistic that’ll appeal to someone, so when you blanket your statements, you end up arrogant or condescending…even if they have merit.
Let’s look at what Tony frequently criticizes to get a better picture: in his video essay on Akira Kurosawa, Tony points out that the biggest problem with The Avengers is that it contains camera movement where it isn’t necessary. He mentions the scene where Nick Fury explains why SHIELD lied about its motivations for forming The Avengers to Iron Man and Captain America respectively. The three of them gather at a round table, while the camera swerves around them to imply scope. Except, according to Tony, the camera didn’t need to swerve. Camera movement only carries weight when it’s backed by appropriate character movement (or lack thereof), and this particular scene lacks that because it feels empty.
That’s a fair point, and one I’d never thought of prior to watching his video, but it misses the greater intent of the scene. I could easily counter the claim by stating that the swerve symbolizes the missing Avengers. The group is a team of six, and yet four of them are out of commission: The Hulk had recently fallen to Earth after a moment of rage-induced violence, while Thor had landed in a field from a cage originally meant for Loki. Meanwhile, Hawkeye was recovering from his brainwashing, with Black Widow keeping him company. The camera swerve, I’d argue, is meant to show disunity and fracture, a complete 180-degrees from the swerve in the third-act when the team’s reunited against the Chitauri.
Important character details also occur in it. When Nick Fury explains his motivations, they have different looks. Iron Man is uncomfortable, while Captain America is confused. When Fury tosses the blood-stained cards from Phil Coulson’s pocket onto the table, Iron Man leaves, while Captain America remains. That difference in the reactions of our two heroes speaks volumes about them: Iron Man understands the weight of the situation even without the cards, while Captain America needs the push to remind him of what’s at stake. This scene is rich in depth, something Tony’s complaint glosses over.
Next up, Tony’s video on Jackie Chan and fight choreography in film. Here, Tony brings up how Hollywood action films use cheap editing to distract from the inexperience of the actors and actresses and their inability to do hand-to-hand combat/actual stunts. He uses a scene from Guardians of the Galaxy to prove his point, when, really, he could’ve picked any Hollywood blockbuster.
This one’s tougher to deconstruct because it’s a problem of time and stunt doubles. It’s a problem of time because films don’t have the resources or deadlines in the West to accommodate fluid action. Even those that do still use cheats to make the fights look more stylized (see Scott Pilgrim VS the World.) And it’s a problem of stunt doubles because the editor needs a way to make them look invisible. Though it’s not like there aren’t actual stunts being done by the actors and actresses themselves, because there are.
I think Tony’s own video dispels his argument because of what Jackie Chan himself says. It’s a known fact in film circles that he does his own stunts in his Eastern action movies, partly because he’s given a lot of creative control. In the West, however, that flexibility isn’t available, hence the cuts and lack of cohesive action. But that’s not an indication that the movies themselves are bad, because a film with poor fight choreography can compensate with strong acting and writing (like with Batman Begins, which had atrocious fight choreography, yet excelled everywhere else.)
And honestly, Tony could’ve picked any action movie. He didn’t have to single out an MCU film, as, save animation, this is an epidemic all-across the board. So why not pick on a movie with bad writing and acting too? Why not criticize the dozens of paint-by-numbers action films that come out every year made for a quick buck or two? That Tony directs his attention to the MCU is, again, another example of why I think he’s being unfairly critical.
Then there’s the video that Tony did on editing. In it, he discusses how an editor’s biggest challenge is to know when to cut for the sake of emotional investment. He zooms in on action films in Hollywood, and uses scenes from two movies over the last 40 or so years to highlight the decline in quality editing. The first is when Luke tries lifting his X-Wing from the swamp on Dagobah in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and fails. The cuts are long, slow and dragged out, only picking up once Luke gives up. I’ll admit it’s an effective use of editing, no arguments there.
But then Tony brings up Scott trying to control ants for his first time in Ant-Man, and how quick and “unimpressive” the editing is. The scene’s editing can be rationalized as Scott not only not believing in himself, but not caring to try. He’s stuck in a foreign house against his will and is being asked to control ants with his mind. Anybody with a healthy level of skepticism would be instantly turned off by that, even pretending to try to prove that it’s impossible. Sure, Hank’s encouragement might’ve been unneeded, but the editing was perfectly fine.
You see what I’m getting at? The problem isn’t that Tony’s critiques ring false, because they’re reasonable given his topics. And it’s not like the MCU isn’t guilty of flaws, because I can think of a dozen problems that Tony hasn’t covered. But his complaints ring hollow because they’re frequently directed at the MCU, and not even in the appropriate places.The movies aren’t trying to be what Tony wants them to be, that’s not their intent.
All this boils down to is a case of a video maker criticizing something that’s “critic-proof”. The MCU is flawed, but not for the reasons Tony is pointing out. Yet I hear similar complaints all the time, which reminds me of the scene from Ratatouille where Anton Ego’s overly-critical disposition is quelled by…a ratatouille dish. That’s right, the simplest of dishes silences Ego. It doesn’t matter that it’s a “peasant’s dish”, it still did the trick.
On some level, I’m waiting for the MCU-equivalent of that to silence these critics and make them realize that their critiques aren’t as weighty as they think. Especially since, and this might be a cop-out, these films weren’t made with them in mind. They’re for the average Joe and those who've been fed up with the past mistreatment of Marvel properties. Could they be better-produced? Sure, but they could also be worse-produced. Until that understanding’s reached, I’ll forever roll my eyes at any and all “critiques” made against them.
So yes, Tony, you’re being unfair toward the MCU. I still love your videos, but you’re being unfair.
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