Taika Waititi Calls This Popular Film Genre 'The Worst'
Taika Waititi is known for his unique humor and bold opinions. The acclaimed director once took aim at an entire category of films, calling them boring and pointless. But his controversial take might hide a surprising truth about his own creative potential.
It can be tough to pin down Taika Waititi. One minute you're loving a quirky indie comedy like What We Do in the Shadows, and the next you're cringing at the idea of another superhero blockbuster. The New Zealand filmmaker has built a career on a wide range of projects, and it's a safe bet that even his biggest fans haven't loved everything he's done. That's likely just how he wants it.
A Knack for Controversy
His signature style is a kind of mischievous, smart-aleck humor that feels like it was designed to make authority figures squirm. This attitude isn't just in his films; it's a core part of his public persona during interviews. He seems to get a kick out of saying the quiet part out loud, voicing thoughts most Hollywood figures would keep locked away. For instance, he once declared himself his own biggest fan—a sentiment many in the industry probably share about themselves but would never say publicly. Other times, his comments feel designed more to stir the pot than to be sincere, like when he flatly stated that director’s cuts are terrible.
Taking Aim at Biopics
One of his most pointed critiques was aimed at an entire category of filmmaking. In a 2017 conversation with The Guardian, the Kiwi celebrity went after biographical pictures, labeling them “the worst type of movie” and dismissing them as consistently dull. “They’re always subject to such scrutiny,” he explained. “Like … ‘Oh, they really learned to play piano, they went around wearing blue suede shoes for the entire shoot’. I think, why is that interesting for an actor? Who cares?” To be fair, he has a point. The film industry has a long track record of producing stuffy, self-important biographical dramas that seem engineered solely for awards season.
An Ironic Stance
However, if one were to pick a genre that has arguably had a more detrimental impact on cinema as an art form, superhero films would be a prime candidate. The fact that the director of a Thor movie chose to attack the genre that produced classics like Lawrence of Arabia and Raging Bull while ignoring the one responsible for Green Lantern and Zack Snyder's filmography is quite revealing. It casts a shadow on his claims of unfiltered truth-telling.
Ultimately, the key insight from that fiery interview is that Waititi doesn't want to be taken too seriously, whether he's on stage accepting an award or poking fun at Hollywood conventions. And frankly, we should all hope he eventually changes his mind about biographical films, because he would probably direct a fantastic one. He recently floated the idea of a musical about the disastrous Fyre Festival. At this rate, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him developing a sci-fi epic about Genghis Khan or Mahatma Gandhi. And if he did, many of us would be first in line to see it.