Not happy: Mel Gibson slams ‘Batman v Superman’

Actor calls out big-budget films for wasting money and resources

VENICE: Hollywood actor and film-maker Mel Gibson has slammed Zack Snyder’s latest superhero film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice by saying, “Real superheroes don’t wear spandex.”

“Do you know what the difference between real superheroes and comic-book superheroes is? The real ones didn’t wear any spandex. I don’t know… Spandex must cost a lot,” the 60-year-old Gibson said at the Venice Film Festival. “I am just not interested in that stuff!”

The topic of the film – which starred Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill in the roles of Batman and Superman respectively – came up when Gibson revealed the modest budget he had worked with for his latest project Hacksaw Ridge. “The exchange rate for the US dollar was good at that time and I think we locked in at about 72 cents on it,” he shared. “We took a $27million budget and turned it into a $40million budget.”

The Passion of the Christ film-maker then confirmed that the budget for his last film Apocalypto was $30million, before adding that he does not think that films costing more than $200million to produce are worth it. “Honestly, I just look at them and scratch my head. I’m really baffled by this. There is a lot of waste but maybe if I did one of those things with the green screens, I’d find out differently,” said Gibson. “It just seems to me like you can do it for less. You’re spending outrageous amounts of money – $180million or more – and don’t know how to make it back after the tax man comes and you’ve given half to the exhibitors.”

Gibson made his Hollywood debut back in 1977 with Summer City and has since then, starred in many successful projects, including Braveheart, Signs and the Lethal Weapon series. He has also served as director for critically-acclaimed projects like Passion of the Christ and Man without a Face. Hacksaw Ridge will be his latest directorial venture.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2016.

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