Lots of people love to pile on Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, but plenty others don’t think the film is that bad. Bruce Campbell definitely doesn’t fall into the latter category, though. The Evil Dead star didn’t mince words when discussing the bold crossover event. In fact, he thinks the concept was so silly and over-the-top that the movie should’ve never even been made in the first place.
Campbell believes that the flick is representative to an all-around decline in filmmaking. The reasons for this, he explains, are all of the breakthroughs in special effects and CGI. The veteran actor says that all of these conveniences for those behind the camera have led to a drop-off in creativity, especially in superhero franchises.
“You know, effects should be used to tell a story… because, here’s what it is: the Evil Dead movies are about unsuspecting people with no special powers and things happened to them. So it’s survival by normal people. So that’s all you need. To a character [like] Ash from Evil Dead, he can be killed at any time. Car crash. He’s dead. But these guys who have this special superhero power, to me that’s Snoresville. If you don’t have kryptonite, then — Batman v Superman. Stupid, stupid, stupid concept. Never should’ve been made.
Superman who can like, make the world go backwards with centrifugal force. Batman can’t do that. Superman can frickin’ fly. He’s the man of steel. All he has—one hand on Batman’s esophagus, the story is over. So they spent a lot of money kidding themselves. Stop rinsing these superheroes! By the time we get through, they’re all going to have the same color hair, they’re all going to do the same stuff. What’s unusual about them?”
Something that’s definitely unusual about them is the amount of money they make at the box office. All of the Evil Dead films combined couldn’t stack up against the record-shattering bottom line of Avengers: Endgame. As long as these flicks continue to draw in audiences, there’s no reason for filmmakers to consider pursing any kind of alternative.
While there’s definitely a lot of truth to what Campbell is saying, it’s also possible that he’s a little jealous of the superhero franchise’s success. His recent television show Ash vs. Evil Dead failed to attract a huge viewership and was ultimately cancelled. Now, the 61-year-old is lamenting the demise of movies just because he feels those from his generation were better. The entire quote definitely has a cranky “get off my lawn” vibe to it.
Still, Campbell is a legend and a lot of what he’s saying makes sense. At the same time, superhero films are here to stay and there’s nothing he or anyone else can do about it.