If you're a loyal CBM reader, then you were probably shocked and angered by director Brett Ratner's recent statements about how "comic book geeks" have no life and nothing better to do. Well, get ready for more, because, love him or hate him, Ratner's outspoken about his place in X-Men history.
Ratner, while promoting a DVD he made about his own "legacy" of filmmaking, said:
"You know what it is. That's their whole life, they have nothing more to do than to worry. What are they concerned about? It's out of the filmmaker's hands. A film is a collaborative effort. How's a person sitting at home going to worry about how a movie is going to turn out to be? I just know one thing: Mine outgrossed the other two by far. Mine was the [X-Men movie] that made the most narrative sense. And I'm not knocking [Bryan Singer's] movie but he just does a certain thing; Bryan uses his brain and I use my eye and my instincts more. It's a whole different approach to making a movie. I'm not saying my movie wasn't smart; I just wasn't intellectualizing it. I was just looking at it as pure entertainment value which is what it was.
"When I was a kid and used to watch that cartoon it was just fun. It wasn't a deeper meaning for me when I watched the cartoon as a kid. I didn't read the comic books but it doesn't matter, the cartoon is the same f*cking thing.
The most ridiculous statement I've read is -- and of course I looked at the Internet after the movie came out -- that I buried the franchise. If I buried the franchise how the f*ck did they make a Wolverine? I mean, that's ridiculous. And they're making three other f*cking X-Men movies. Mine kept the franchise alive!"
Well, CBM fans, what do you think? Did Brett Ratner save the
X-Men franchise? Please allow me to step aside before you start hurtling projectiles...
RATNER UPDATE 1: Has Brett Ratner been listening in to our little thread about him here at CBM? I don't know, but Ratner Tweeted this today:
ATTN COMIC BOOK FANS: THERE ARE 3 SIDES TO EVERY STORY. YOUR SIDE, MY SIDE, AND THE TRUTH. AND NO ONE IS LYING.
RATNER UPDATE 2: More from Brett on Twitter:
I will direct Youngblood which [Michael Ryan] didnt ask me about either. i was a comic book geek since i was 6 years old just not X-MEN.