James Cameron Criticizes Marvel and DC Characters: ‘They All Act Like They’re in College‘ and ’Really Don‘t’ Have Relationships

Thread: James Cameron Criticizes Marvel and DC Characters: ‘They All Act Like They’re in College‘ and ’Really Don‘t’ Have Relationships
Grisham

Grisham

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Cameron continued, "When I look at these big, spectacular films — I'm looking at you, Marvel and DC — it doesn't matter how old the characters are, they all act like they're in college. They have relationships, but they really don't. They never hang up their spurs because of their kids. The things that really ground us and give us power, love, and a purpose? Those characters don't experience it, and I think that's not the way to make movies."

Another way not to make movies is to make underwater scenes. Cameron shot a majority of "Avatar: The Way of Water" in large water tanks, and his cast had to train to hold their breathes for minutes on end so that Cameron could film longer takes underwater. When asked what's gained from shooting in actual water has opposed to the more CGI appraoch taken in films like "Aquaman" and Disney's upcoming "The Little Mermaid," Cameron answered, "Oh, I don't know, maybe that it looks good?"
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variety.com

James Cameron Criticizes Marvel and DC Characters: ‘They All Act Like They’re in College‘ and ’Really Don‘t’ Have Relationships

James Cameron says characters in Marvel and DC movies don't have real relationships.
variety.com variety.com
 
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Grisham said:
variety.com

James Cameron Criticizes Marvel and DC Characters: ‘They All Act Like They’re in College‘ and ’Really Don‘t’ Have Relationships

James Cameron says characters in Marvel and DC movies don't have real relationships.
variety.com variety.com
Click to expand...

When asked what's gained from shooting in actual water has opposed to the more CGI appraoch taken in films like "Aquaman" and Disney's upcoming "The Little Mermaid," Cameron answered, "Oh, I don't know, maybe that it looks good?"
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Fucking based.
 
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I can't disagree tbh. Also, the dude has a pretty good record of putting out solid films. I mean they aren't perfect but they always feel a little more grounded in terms of world-building versus whatever the MCU are up to. Still horses for courses.
 
Cameron has this obession with shoe horning in love interests in all of his movies... he even did it in the extended version of Aliens. He doesn't do it for passion of anything like that... he simply believes that is what women want to see and he can make more money if women also want to see his movies.

He eventually just said fuck it and made Titanic. Oh sure he loves water and so on, but not more than he loves playing both sides for profit.
 
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Cameron continued, "When I look at these big, spectacular films — I'm looking at you, Marvel and DC — it doesn't matter how old the characters are, they all act like they're in college. They have relationships, but they really don't. They never hang up their spurs because of their kids. The things that really ground us and give us power, love, and a purpose? Those characters don't experience it, and I think that's not the way to make movies."
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This is a pretty damning statement, particularly in Disney/Marvel's case. How are you supposed to portray proper family dynamics when you've got pro abortion feminazi activists in charge of the writing? One only needs to look at She Hulk turned out to show what these kind of people think how a woman should act in the modern world.
 
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Let's be real...... there's a reason all of these very talented directors are taking shots at the super hero movie genre and I know this is a really tough thing for people getting older no longer getting the limelight they think they deserve.

It's jealousy.
 
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As a married man the complete lack of any real families or romance in modern movies is always something that sticks out like a sore thumb.

It's arguably the single most universal experience and desire all human beings share, without getting into the basics of sustenance or breathing, and used to be present in near everything from family friendly films, mostly aimed at kids, to hard 18 horrors.

It's the same reason I really don't see videogames, especially those that pretend to have deep and meaningful stories, and are high on their accolades from the press of being 'artistic' and full of realistic 'representation', as being anything more than poorly written amateur fiction, that only eternal children and narcissists take seriously.

Romantic love, familial bonds and fighting to build a better future for those you care more for than yourself, those are the core components that make so many stories timeless, and are completely missing from modern fiction.
 
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Hinedorf said:
Let's be real...... there's a reason all of these very talented directors are taking shots at the super hero movie genre and I know this is a really tough thing for people getting older no longer getting the limelight they think they deserve.

It's jealousy.
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Jealous of what? His last film is the most successful film of all time. He's spent more than a decade making this new one and has been able to indulge his passion for deep sea exploration as part of it. The guy is doing whatever the fuck he wants.
 
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Yer Da said:
Jealous of what? His last film is the most successful film of all time. He's spent more than a decade making this new one and has been able to indulge his passion for deep sea exploration as part of it. The guy is doing whatever the fuck he wants.
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Excuse me? Are you talking about Avatar that joke of a movie that was a direct writing retread of Dances with Wolves.

That movie was successful 100% because of visuals and the inclusion of 3D and absolutely NOTHING to do with the story or writing.

By all means you want to call him successful, no problem there. You're talking about a dude who's been successful with action movies for the most part. I would argue the best writing/character development of any movie by Cameron is True Lies.

I wonder how old school directors thought of Cameron when Terminator 2 first came out, do you think they thought he was making Casablanca or were they delivering the SAME TYPE OF CRITICISM he's giving super hero movies.

If he weren't jealous he'd be focused on his own projects and not taking indirect cheap shots at a genre that has supplanted his existence for over a decade while he waits on technology to make another visual masterpiece + shit story combination.
 
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Yer Da said:
Jealous of what? His last film is the most successful film of all time. He's spent more than a decade making this new one and has been able to indulge his passion for deep sea exploration as part of it. The guy is doing whatever the fuck he wants.
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As much as I dislike Avatar, I cannot dispute this at all. Dude is on top of the world and is so successful he literally can do whatever the hell he wants. Why would he be jealous of the dwindling success of superhero films?

Hinedorf said:
If he weren't jealous he'd be focused on his own projects and not taking indirect cheap shots at a genre that has supplanted his existence for over a decade while he waits on technology to make another visual masterpiece + shit story combination.
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He is focused on making his own projects lol. Dude's spent like the last 5-10 years working on his own original stuff. Making an offhand remark in an interview doesn't take away from that.
 
It's the formula. It's allowed them to be successful since families can go to one of these films and know what to expect, and it pays off. It's also probably why the first slate of DCEU movies had the reception they did, because they weren't that at all.

The problem is they never evolved to offer unique experiences driven by the filmmaker and they've kept it going so long that people are starting to get tired of it and the Marvel name alone isn't enough to guarantee huge earnings anymore.
 
Hinedorf said:
Excuse me? Are you talking about Avatar that joke of a movie that was a direct writing retread of Dances with Wolves.

That movie was successful 100% because of visuals and the inclusion of 3D and absolutely NOTHING to do with the story or writing.

By all means you want to call him successful, no problem there. You're talking about a dude who's been successful with action movies for the most part. I would argue the best writing/character development of any movie by Cameron is True Lies.

I wonder how old school directors thought of Cameron when Terminator 2 first came out, do you think they thought he was making Casablanca or were they delivering the SAME TYPE OF CRITICISM he's giving super hero movies.

If he weren't jealous he'd be focused on his own projects and not taking indirect cheap shots at a genre that has supplanted his existence for over a decade while he waits on technology to make another visual masterpiece + shit story combination.
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I don't particularly care about Avatar myself but Cameron clearly does. It was a massive passion project for him and it was the biggest film of all time. Why should he be jealous of the Avengers or whatever? It'd be like saying he was jealous of the most successful films that came out between Titanic and Avatar 1. He's one of the biggest names in the industry, he's allowed to comment on the biggest trend of the past few decades.

Also, the reason he's talking about it is that his main characters from Avatar 1 have now matured and become parents. Whereas someone like Spider-Man is constantly being rebooted so he's always around high school/college age. We don't see that character grow beyond that in the films.

And you can say it was successful because of the visuals and 3D but those were also Cameron. He was the biggest champion of 3D. And whatever you want to say about him or his films he clearly has a knack for making films that connect with people.

If Disney had gone to him and said "hey Jim, you can either make Avatar 2 or any Marvel project you want" do you really think he's picking the Marvel project? If he calls up Disney and says he wants to make an MCU film you think they aren't throwing money at him?

Again, what does he have to be jealous of?
 
Hinedorf said:
Excuse me? Are you talking about Avatar that joke of a movie that was a direct writing retread of Dances with Wolves.

That movie was successful 100% because of visuals and the inclusion of 3D and absolutely NOTHING to do with the story or writing.

By all means you want to call him successful, no problem there. You're talking about a dude who's been successful with action movies for the most part. I would argue the best writing/character development of any movie by Cameron is True Lies.

I wonder how old school directors thought of Cameron when Terminator 2 first came out, do you think they thought he was making Casablanca or were they delivering the SAME TYPE OF CRITICISM he's giving super hero movies.

If he weren't jealous he'd be focused on his own projects and not taking indirect cheap shots at a genre that has supplanted his existence for over a decade while he waits on technology to make another visual masterpiece + shit story combination.
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You watch your mouth. Terminator is a fucking work of art.
 
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I've said before I'd like to see a live-action Spider-Man movie centered around an older Peter Parker. It would make for an interesting movie versus simply rebooting him to the same teenager/young adult.

I loved No Way Home but I also think Sam Raimi's trilogy did a really good job focusing on its character relationships and interactions. Tobey even once said Spider-Man is just as much about Peter and MJ as it is about Spider-Man.
 
Avatar is a bad movie, but Cameron is right about Marvel films too.

I mean his villains in Avatar is a one dimensional morons. Paul Riser in Alien at least had motivation. These guys in Avatar our just like UNOBTANIUM IS ALL I NEED!
 
Quaritch has more depth and is better acted than any Marvel villain, and his only motivation is being a hardass with a chip on his shoulder.

Rewatching Avatar this year, I noticed it shares some narrative techniques with Alita. Like clockwork, they both introduce and pile up character conflicts and hidden motivations which are gradually brought together and squeezed to unbearable tension. It's very effective. Both movies basically have a mini True Lies chugging along the main plot.
 
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