Quentin Tarantino has always been a man that inspired controversy, but he’s always held a very special place in a lot of the geek community’s heart. However, recent comments from the acclaimed director gave very special place one heck of an earthquake. Tarantino mildly defended his love for The Lone Ranger, a movie he loved so much he put it as number 9 of his top 10 movies of 2013 so far, which came as a surprise to most people.
He had this to say in defense of The Lone Ranger (though he backtracks quite a bit in my opinion):
“The first forty-five minutes are excellent … the next forty-five minutes are a little soporific. It was a bad idea to split the bad guys in two groups; it takes hours to explain and nobody cares. Then comes the train scene — incredible! When I saw it, I kept thinking, ‘What, that’s the film that everybody says is crap? Seriously?'”
* Warning SPOILER Ahead*
“That being said, I still have a little problem with the film. I like Tonto’s backstory — the idea that his tribe got slaughtered because of him; that’s a real comic-book thing. But the slaughter of the tribe, by gunfire, from the cavalry, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. … The Indians have really been victims of a genocide. So slaughtering them again in an entertaining movie, Buster Keaton style… That ruined the fun a bit for me. I simply found it…ugly.”
*Spoiler Over*
If you think his opinion on The Lone Ranger was misguided, just read what he said about Ben Affleck’s upcoming role of Batman.
“I have to admit that I don’t really have an opinion. Why? Because Batman is not a very interesting character. For any actor. There is simply not much to play. I think Michael Keaton did it the best, and I wish good luck to Ben Affleck. But, you know who would have made a great Batman? Alec Baldwin in the ’80s.”
I actually don’t mind his love for The Lone Ranger. To me that just shows a bit about his taste in movies, and Tarantino has certainly always had some odd favorites. I think this movie speaks to him more from a director’s point of view then anything else. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a train scene in one of his film in the near future.
As for his opinion of Batman, I don’t think I could disagree with him more. I believe Batman is a fascinating character. Is he my favorite superhero? Not by a long shot, but I still love the character and to write him off as uninteresting just seems odd. The character has so much depth and complexity. Even now 74 years after his first comic book appearance we still haven’t seen all the sides of the character. To be able to have a character in the media for so long and still keep things fresh says a lot about just how interesting the character is.
Still, what Tarantino gave was his opinion and I won’t hate on him for that. I might not understand or agree with it, but I certainly won’t hate on the man for it.
Do Tarantino’s thoughts resonate with you or is he completely insane? Was Michael Keaton really the best Batman?! Sound off in the comments!
Source: IGN
