I know that’ll anger some of you, and I anticipate it. It’s not like I haven’t had debates over Marvel movies before. People getting mad is kind of the point. It means I’m shaking the right trees. Also, the fruit’s pretty sweet.
Anyway, I recently saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It was a return to the cinema after 33 days of counting of The Omer, and I have many thoughts. I think the movie’s a little long, and some of the writing could’ve been tighter, but it hit more highs than lows. I was pleasantly-surprised by it tackling animal cruelty, something made doubly-amusing by PETA endorsing it. There’s plenty to dissect underneath the characters constantly shouting, but that’s for another time. Because I’d rather discuss people using this as another punching bag for the MCU.
There was a time when I’d have agreed with the criticism. I wasn’t an MCU fan for the first 6 years of its existence, even if I enjoyed The Avengers. But 2014 changed that, showing that there was more than mindless fluff there. Between Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy, I finally appreciated the identity of the franchise. And now I’m a fan.
Truthfully, the criticism of these movies on a technical level, while not unfounded, rings hollow and ignores the point. Yes, The MCU isn’t the “greatest action franchise ever”. With a few exceptions, it’s only consistently good! But that’s not an insult! If anything, it highlights the solid batting average. How many movie series can attest to that?
It also bothers me how smug some the detractors are: “The MCU’s military propaganda!” Okay, and? “The MCU doesn’t take risks!” Source? Even the franchise “peaking” 4 years ago with The Avengers: Endgame bothers me because I don’t think it did. That, and “peaking” doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to say.
This is especially concerning because Kang’s much more threatening than Thanos. Thanos was a population eugenicist. His movies made it work, but his motives were pretty lame when you analyze them. Kang, however, is more interesting: he’s a conqueror from the future hellbent on maintaining his overlord status. Not exactly “deep” either, but he has the advantage of being an intelligent human. Add in that he keeps coming back, and that his ego keeps being his downfall, and there’s a lot that can be played with.
It also bothers me how smug some the detractors are: “The MCU’s military propaganda!” Okay, and? “The MCU doesn’t take risks!” Source? Even the franchise “peaking” 4 years ago with The Avengers: Endgame bothers me because I don’t think it did. That, and “peaking” doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to say.
This is especially concerning because Kang’s much more threatening than Thanos. Thanos was a population eugenicist. His movies made it work, but his motives were pretty lame when you analyze them. Kang, however, is more interesting: he’s a conqueror from the future hellbent on maintaining his overlord status. Not exactly “deep” either, but he has the advantage of being an intelligent human. Add in that he keeps coming back, and that his ego keeps being his downfall, and there’s a lot that can be played with.
Essentially, Kang’s that cockroach infestation you keep having, one that never goes away. That’s both annoying and scary, and The MCU’s already tapped into that with Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. There’s real potential to be had in a pest that won’t leave, and it’s being overshadowed by pretentious assumptions that The MCU doesn’t have any good stories left.
Which leads me to my next issue: that diverse storytelling and casting is “bad” or “woke”. That’s more on superhero fans, showing that they never understood them in the first place. Having Black Panther or Kamala Khan is an acknowledgement that other cultures exist and deserve to shine. And shows like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law criticizing toxic masculinity is a self-fulfilling prophecy when people attack it for that. You’re basically telling on yourselves.
The real issues are with film nerds, though. Between criticizing The MCU for over-relying on CGI, even though CGI has made acting safer, or claiming that Marvel scripts lack humanity, which isn’t true, I’m convinced that going to film school makes you self-righteous. Either that, or film-bros all drink the same water from the same fountain. It’s not a good look regardless. And besides, what’s wrong with enjoying these movies?
Which leads me to my next issue: that diverse storytelling and casting is “bad” or “woke”. That’s more on superhero fans, showing that they never understood them in the first place. Having Black Panther or Kamala Khan is an acknowledgement that other cultures exist and deserve to shine. And shows like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law criticizing toxic masculinity is a self-fulfilling prophecy when people attack it for that. You’re basically telling on yourselves.
The real issues are with film nerds, though. Between criticizing The MCU for over-relying on CGI, even though CGI has made acting safer, or claiming that Marvel scripts lack humanity, which isn’t true, I’m convinced that going to film school makes you self-righteous. Either that, or film-bros all drink the same water from the same fountain. It’s not a good look regardless. And besides, what’s wrong with enjoying these movies?
Let me repeat that: what’s wrong with enjoying these movies?
It sucks that MCU fans are unfairly-judged as is, but whenever the judges are called out, they hide behind the claim of not thinking critically about consumption. This despite not always being the case. And even if it were, so what?! Do you enjoy being the fun police?
I’ll conclude with what I consider the most-damaging statement of all: Martin Scorsese calling MCU movies “amusement park rides”. Ignoring how wrong I think he is, and I refuse to not call him out, whittling MCU movies down to that not only ignores how they resonate with people, it ignores how many of the same “issues” The MCU has are in other franchises. If you don’t see me calling the Mission Impossible movies “not cinema”, despite them being an insult to the TV series they’re based on, then why’s it fair game to attack MCU movies for, frankly, being deeper than them? Is it because those movies have real stunts from Tom Cruise? If that’s the case, you might as well be watching YouTube videos of stunt-work instead. Because that’s not storytelling, it’s indulging Cruise’s ego.
Something to think about.
It sucks that MCU fans are unfairly-judged as is, but whenever the judges are called out, they hide behind the claim of not thinking critically about consumption. This despite not always being the case. And even if it were, so what?! Do you enjoy being the fun police?
I’ll conclude with what I consider the most-damaging statement of all: Martin Scorsese calling MCU movies “amusement park rides”. Ignoring how wrong I think he is, and I refuse to not call him out, whittling MCU movies down to that not only ignores how they resonate with people, it ignores how many of the same “issues” The MCU has are in other franchises. If you don’t see me calling the Mission Impossible movies “not cinema”, despite them being an insult to the TV series they’re based on, then why’s it fair game to attack MCU movies for, frankly, being deeper than them? Is it because those movies have real stunts from Tom Cruise? If that’s the case, you might as well be watching YouTube videos of stunt-work instead. Because that’s not storytelling, it’s indulging Cruise’s ego.
Something to think about.
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