The mega-billion dollar conglomerate that is Disney has just taken a major step in taking over the world of movies further this past weekend, that is if they even haven’t already. “Avengers: Endgame” made $350 million domestically and $1.2 billon worldwide this past weekend. Sad. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked the movie when I saw it last week, but there’s something odd in cheering the complete and utter takeover by the mouse house in Hollywood. The mid-budget adult drama is all but dead because of it. A perfect example is the lack of any high-quality big studio movie released so far this year. “Us” was a product of Jason Blum’s independent horror house and “High Life” was a French production. This is the culmination of something that happened in the industry post-9/11 and manifested itself slowly with 2002’s “X2” and “Spider-Man” but became a forceful power with the Marvel Cinematic Universe entering the fray with 2008’s “Iron Man.” America wanted heroes post-tragedy and they sure got them, but in such artificial and inauthentic ways. We are now living through a time period where fear and anxiety rule over the population, which results in mass audiences trying to just escape within the meandering pop-culture escapism being barraged at the movies by Marvel and DC. Do you really think the powers that be would want to waver themselves and actually try to help us with our anxieties and fears? Of course not. They want us sheltered and powerless. Fear sells, baby — and Marvel movies are the short-term cure.
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“Hope,” Na’s first film in ten years — his last one being the exemplary “The Wailing” —is a gloriously messy, blood-soaked sci-fi epic that may become a cult classic despite—or because of—its polarizing nature.