Filmmaker Ridley Scott Thinks Film Nowadays Is Bad

Another year, another male filmmaker complains about the current state of cinema. This time, it’s Ridley Scott, whose next movie is Alien: Covenant.

Okay, maybe we have enough things to be angry about, with the presidential inauguration mere weeks away. But Hollywood is far from perfect, and just because the government is going topsy-turvy that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t call out filmmakers on their nonsense. This time, the offender in question is Ridley Scott.

While promoting the upcoming TV show Taboo, on which he serves as executive producer, Scott spoke to the press. The interview included some less-than-optimistic comments about the state of modern movies.

“Cinema mainly is pretty bad,” Scott said, according to Digital Spy. Specifically, he’s not a fan of superhero movies, and he insists that he will never direct one, though he’s been asked multiple times. He explained, “I can’t believe in the thin, gossamer tight-rope of the non-reality of the situation of the superhero.”

To his credit, Scott doesn’t entirely dismiss comic books, comparing his science-fiction classic Blade Runner to the medium. “It’s a dark story told in an unreal world,” he said. “You could almost put Batman or Superman in that world, that atmosphere, except I’d have a f***ing good story, as opposed to no story!”

Few would disagree that studio filmmaking is struggling right now, relying too heavily on mega-budget franchises. Studio heads are frequently more interested in marketing movies than actually making them. And the superhero “cinematic universes” being churned out by Marvel Studios and Warner Bros. deserve a huge chunk of the blame.

Frankly, though, you don’t get to complain if you’re contributing to the problem. Scott’s next directorial project is Alien: Covenant, a sequel to a prequel to a movie from the ‘70s. The plot, as far as we can tell, is identical to the plot of every other Alien movie (seriously, the characters’ inability to learn from past adventures is getting into Jurassic Park territory at this point). What makes Alien: Covenant any less superficial than, say, Spider-Man: Homecoming? And no, an R rating doesn’t automatically make a movie mature, as Deadpool can attest.

Also, even within the current infrastructure, filmmakers still manage to occasionally produce good, thoughtful work. The past couple years have given us, among others, Gravity, Interstellar, Crimson Peak, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Arrival, all distributed by major studios. In the near future, we will see Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins; Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler; and A Wrinkle in Time, directed by Ava DuVernay. Even the biggest conglomerate of them all, Disney, turned out two of the best movies of the year in the animated Zootopia and Moana.

Besides, Moonlight exists.

Long story short, cinema is doing fine, at least for now. Instead of making sweeping statements about a medium about which he seems mainly pretty ignorant, perhaps Scott should focus on doing something constructive with his privilege, such as erasing Exodus: Gods and Kings from our collective memory.

Alien: Covenant currently has a May 19 release.

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