Roland Emmerich’s movies aren’t exactly subtle. The director pioneered the modern, mass-destruction-crazed blockbuster movie, and his latest, Independence Day: Resurgence, takes to the wanton landmark-smashing to an all new, absurd level. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Emmerich talked a bit about his near-clinical obsession with smashing stuff in his summer blockbusters:
“The spaceship, the mothership, is coming down to Earth and it’s even bigger than the old one. It comes over Asia, sucks up Asia and then when it lands, it dumps Asia on Europe! I have to get images in my head. I start to think a spaceship has to hover so it has to have legs, and when a leg is bigger than a whole city it becomes an object which is fascinating. I’ve always been fascinated by size, by impossible things which you cannot find in any movie.”
The idea of dropping Asia on Europe may sound like the sugar-fueled fever dream of an eight-year-old boy, but it turns out Emmerich is surprisingly judgmental about his “silly” comic book competition. Emmerich sees himself as a visionary, and has no time for the superhero fare that’s been partly inspired by his movies:
“I’m a big believer in original ideas. I tell this to every kid who comes to me and says they want to be a filmmaker. I say, ‘Do what you want to do and don’t let yourself be talked into anything.’ When you look at my movies it’s always the regular Joe Schmo that’s the unlikely hero. A lot of Marvel movies, they show people in funny suits running around. I don’t like people in capes. I find it silly when someone dons a superhero suit and flies. I don’t understand it. I grew up in Germany, that’s probably why.”
I’m not sure what being German has to do with not liking superheroes, but Emmerich has a lot of… interesting things to say in his Guardian interview. Emmerich’s planet-flattening movies may be a bit formulaic, but the man himself is anything but. While on the subject, here’s a new clip from Independence Day: Resurgence. You can judge for yourself whether it’s more silly or less than somebody wearing a cape.
Independence Day: Resurgence smashes theaters June 24.
(Via The Guardian)
