I ran across two long post criticizing the MCU today. I realize that isn’t a lot, but I honestly don’t see a lot of criticism of the MCU. It is beloved to the point of worship. So, I want to take this current inspiration to talk about the MCU.
Martin Scorsese voiced his criticism of MCU poorly. In doing so, he opened himself up to easy criticism of jealousy and pretentiousness. “What do you mean the MCU isn’t cinema? It is a movie isn’t?” He also got slight push back from people James Gunn. This is perfectly understandable because it is clear that Gunn does put a lot of passion into his work. The implication that he does not is not fair. On that note, this post isn’t directed towards specific artists who have worked on the MCU, or even every specific film/show, but the MCU as a collective whole.
I think what is lost in this perhaps poorly worded message is that Scorsese was right. The MCU doesn’t treat the act of filmmaking as an art form. Instead, it is more of an industrialized creation of entertainment. It is an disney product more than a piece of artistry. Of course, there are notable exceptions, and even in the films that appear the most to be a studio baby have artistic elements to it. The MCU is too vast and has too many people working on it for it to be completely stripped of artistic integrity. Scorsese’s harsh assessment of the MCU as a rollercoaster was correct.
But who doesn’t love rollercoasters? That was my initial thought when I heard Scorsese’s statement, and I’m still asking it today. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I realize some people don’t like rollercoasters. My point is that tons of people do love them, and that is nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t watch MCU for brilliant characters, plot, or themes. If an MCU film has has those traits, than that’s great, but I don’t go into the theater expecting it. I watch a MCU film expecting to have a burst of thrilling fun.
I recently saw Black Widow, and it was okay. I would probably say it was an average to above average movie. Nothing about its characters stood out, but I did like most of them. The plot was sort of predictable. Certain themes tried to pop their heads out to the audience every once in a while, before falling back in shame. You know what though? I did not care. It was a fun movie, and I had a great time watching it. That was enough. I probably won’t ever watch it again, but I’m glad I did.
The problem becomes when we see the MCU as something it isn’t: a work of art. Despite a number of talented artist, the MCU is never going to be a great showcase of art. This is the very nature of being less driven by specific artist, and more by the studio. Art can not be industrialized because it is tied to individual(s) who created it.
The MCU is basically cinema fast food, and there isn’t anything wrong with that. I love me some tasty burgers and salty fries. When we, however, expect all of our food to be fast food it becomes extremely unhealthy. In the same way, the more other studios try to imitate the MCU, the worst it will get for cinema as a whole.
This leads to a lot of problems in the filmmaking industry as a whole. Every film needs to look shiny with pretty CGI. It needs to have witty characters populating every scene. It needs to have serious moments, but be mostly lighthearted. Oh, and don’t forget to create a Cinematic Universe. Often imitations of the MCU only manage to repeat what the MCU gets wrong and never what they get right. This is why we get films like Joss Whedon’s Justice League, which wanted to be Avengers so badly that you almost felt sorry for it.
In fact, I would say that was the biggest misstep in the DCU: the very idea of creating a cinematic universe in the first place. By trying to immitate the MCU’s style, they just become a weaker version of something that already exist. Ironically, fans of the MCU will criticize the DCU for the very things that the MCU does. This is because unlike the MCU, they do not already love the DCU. You can forgive the faults of something you love, but when you take that love away, only the faults remain.
Personally, I think the MCU is closer to a TV show than a film series. It has a showrunner that ultimately controls everything. It is episodic and often ends in clifthangers. We often watch to see what will happen to our favorite characters, even if the plot sometimes loses us. The MCU is getting recent praise for their new shows, but I would argue that this has always been where they have excelled.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is just one billion dollar tv show. It is a national (or really global) pastime, and we can’t wait to see if our friends have seen the latest episode. Let’s just make sure we don’t lose what makes cinema great in the process.