When director Joss Whedonâs The Avengers was released earlier this year and started breaking all kinds of box office records, it looked as if 2012's most anticipated superhero filmâThe Dark Knight Risesâmight be a tad upstaged. Both movies enjoyed critical and commercial success, but without 3D The Dark Knight Rises was unable to match The Avengersâ box office take. Nevertheless, itâs the substance of the films that counts, and both Marvel and Batman fans seemed pretty happy with the respective blockbuster adaptations.One Batman fan, however, recently let loose some harsh words regarding Whedonâs superhero pic: The Dark Knight Rises cinematographer Wally Pfister. Christopher Nolanâs longtime collaborator (and an Oscar winner for his work on Inception), apparently had some issues with the camerawork in The Avengers, calling the whole film âappalling.â Hit the jump for more, including a few more details regarding Pfisterâs impending directorial debut.During an interview with the Sarasota Herald Tribune (via CBM), Pfister was asked whatâs most important when shooting a movie, and his response is where the Avengers dig comes in:
âWhatâs really important is storytelling. None of it matters if it doesnât support the story. I thought The Avengers was an appalling film. Theyâd shoot from some odd angle and Iâd think, why is the camera there? Oh, I see, because they spent half a million on the set and they have to show it off. It took me completely out of the movie. I was driven bonkers by that illogical form of storytelling.â
To be fair, Pfister admits in the same interview that heâs not a big superhero fan, but The Avengers wasnât exactly cinematographer Seamus McGarveyâs first rodeo. McGarvey is responsible for the gorgeous photography in films like Atonement, We Need to Talk About Kevin, and most recently Anna Karenina, so one assumes he knew what he was doing. Iâll admit that The Dark Knight Rises is a better looking film than The Avengers, but by no stretch of the imagination would I consider the latter to be âappalling.â
Pfister recently announced that heâd be moving away from the cinematography profession in favor of making his directorial debut on a project to be produced by Nolan and Emma Thomas, but next to nothing is known about the film's story. Pfister opened up a bit about the project in the same interview, revealing the filmâs genre and time period:
âI canât talk too much about it. Itâs a present-day science fiction film, a fairly big concept. Itâs bigger budget â not as big as Batman, but not independent.â
Pfister has crafted some absolutely brilliant photography over the years, so Iâm eager to see what heâll bring to the table as a director. Like Nolan, heâs also a steadfast supporter of film over digital, so itâs safe to assume heâll be one of the last filmmakers using film stock in the coming years.