Many people found the Academy Awards’ introduction of a ‘Popular Film’ category backhanded and condescending. Ethan Hawke is not one of those people.
In fact, the First Reformed star thinks big budget mainstream fare – specifically superhero movies – already receives far more acclaim than they deserve.
In a new interview with The Film Stage, the goateed Hollywood heavyweight says that comic book adaptations should be treated separately to other movies,
“Now we have the problem that they tell us Logan is a great movie,” he explained. “Well, it’s a great superhero movie. It still involves people in tights with metal coming out of their hands. It’s not Bresson. It’s not Bergman. But they talk about it like it is.”
Logan, a 2017 X-Men spin-off starring Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart, holds a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was praised for its treatment of mental illness, gritty storyline and exhilarating action scenes. It was nominated for the 'Best Original Screenplay' at the 2017 Academy Awards.
“I went to see Logan ‘cause everyone was like, ‘This is a great movie’ and I was like, ‘Really? No, this is a fine superhero movie’”, Hawke continued.
“There’s a difference, but big business doesn’t think there’s a difference. Big business wants you to think that this is a great film because they wanna make money off of it.
Nick Pope is the Site Director of Esquire, overseeing digital strategy for the brand.
