Mel Gibson Attacks Marvel, Explains Why His Action Scenes Are Better
Mel Gibson has attacked the Marvel Cinematic Universe, insisting that they feature scenes that are much “more violent than anything” he’s ever directed.
The Australian actor and director made these comments to the Washington Post while out promoting his new film Hacksaw Ridge, which is being released at the same time as Doctor Strange, the latest edition of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
During this discussion, Gibson was quizzed about the previous films that he has overseen, which has included The Passion Of The Christ, Apocalypto, and Braveheart, and the violence that they have depicted, which have been criticized by some movie fans for being overly gratuitous and intense.
MEL GIBSON Criticizes Violence In MARVEL Movies https://t.co/3wD513Atm8 pic.twitter.com/p2fT5SsJEl
— ComicBook NOW! (@ComicBookNOW) November 5, 2016
However, Mel Gibson was quick to defend the violence in his films, before launching an attack on Marvel Studios by remarking that they’re much worse. Gibson insisted, “[The action] almost has to be — I don’t mean to be callous about it — but it has to be like a sporting event… You have to know who’s who, who your protagonists are, who’s doing what, what screen direction it’s all going in.”
Gibson continued, “In the midst of that, you have to have what appears to be chaos. It’s ordered chaos. To talk about the violence question, look at any Marvel movie. They’re more violent than anything that I’ve done, but [in my movies], you give a s*** about the characters, which makes it matter more. That’s all I’ll say.”
Gibson went on to explain that he believes many modern films, especially those from Marvel, use “violence without conscience,” before adding that with Hacksaw Ridge he is “trying to get to your animal. That’s it. That’s war. I’m trying to make a visceral, fully emotional, immersive experience.”
Those that disagree with Mel Gibson’s views have already been quick to point out that all of his films, except his 1993 directorial debut The Man Without A Face, are rated R, while each Marvel film has only been a PG-13. However, the likes of Guardians Of The Galaxy, The Avengers, and Avengers: Age Of Ultron have featured entire cities being destroyed. In fact, it was recently revealed that Guardians Of The Galaxy featured the highest film body count of all time, as it showed the deaths of 83,871 characters on screen. Not individually, as that would have been particularly harrowing to see, but in one scene.
This isn’t the first time that Mel Gibson has revealed his strong opinions on the comic book genre. Back in September Gibson told Deadline that he’s constantly bemused by the huge $200 million plus budgets of blockbuster films, explaining, “I look at them and scratch my head. I’m really baffled by it. I think there’s a lot of waste, but maybe if I did one of those things with the green screens I’d find out different. I don’t know. Maybe they do cost that much. I don’t know. It seems to me that you could it for less.” This then led to Gibson being told that Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice cost $250 million to make, which provoked him to respond with, “And it’s a piece of s***.”
Hacksaw Ridge has been met with positive reviews since it premiered at the Venice Film Festival back in September, where audiences were so enamored with the film that it received a 10-minute standing ovation from those in attendance. In Hacksaw Ridge Andrew Garfield stars as Desmond T. Doss, the conscientious objector to the violence in World War II who still enlisted to serve in the armed forces but refused to bear arms and ultimately went on to save the lives of dozens of his fellow soldiers.
Mel Gibson criticises Marvel movies for “violence without conscience” https://t.co/88jVWkd9yb pic.twitter.com/IKeK5YPUGO
— Movies World (@MoviesWrld) November 6, 2016
Also starring Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington, Huge Weaving, and Teresa Palmer, Hacksaw Ridge has already been touted for awards season contention.
Meanwhile, Doctor Strange has also just hit cinemas, becoming the fourteenth installment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The origin for the comic book character of the same name, Doctor Strange tells the story of the renowned surgeon Stephen Strange, who after severely injuring his hands soon learns the mystic arts from the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and has to save the world.
[Featured Image by Cindy Ord/Getty Images]
