Legendary Director Francis Ford Coppola Thinks DEADPOOL Was an Amazing Film
Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) has been pretty critical of Marvel movies in the past, calling them “despicable.” He previously said:
"When Martin Scorsese says that the Marvel pictures are not cinema, he's right because we expect to learn something from cinema, we expect to gain something, some enlightenment, some knowledge, some inspiration. I don't know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again. Martin was kind when he said it's not cinema. He didn't say it's despicable, which I just say it is."
Well, it turns out that he doesn’t feel that way for all Marvel movies. He seems to have a soft spot for Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, and in a recent interview with Variety, the Oscar-winning filmmaker applauded the risks taken with the R-rated superhero movie, calling it amazing:
"I liked 'Deadpool,' I thought that was amazing. Cinema is supposed to illuminate contemporary life, and make us understand what's going on. So we need the artists to give us a vision of what's going on."
So, at least he hasn’t written off all superhero and Marvel movies! Deadpool has his seal of approval. Coppola previously talked about superhero franchises saying:
"Personally I don't like the idea of franchises, the notion that you can keep repeating what is essentially the same movie for financial gain — in other words what is a formulaic approach. I feel that approach is taken to reduce the economic risk of movies and I feel the 'risk factor' is an element that makes movies sometimes be great. Also the formulaic film draws most available resources to them, leaving little for more daring productions, reducing diversity.
"In some ways I think the cinema is like food; certainly you can add things to make it tempting, tasty and enjoyable but it must also be nutritious to qualify as real food.”
There is definitely truth in that statement, but at the same time, for the most part, many of the films that fill franchises like Marvel are still really good and wonderfully entertaining. What do you think about Coppola’s comments on Deadpool and superhero film franchises?