Avengers was made for kids, TDKR was the better film for adults.
Hilarious.
Indeed it is. As far as I'm concerned, if you have to resort to being dismissive about a film by saying that it's for kids, then you don't have an argument. As for so-called kids movies, I don't personally know many adults, from those in their 20s to those well into their 60s who wouldn't regard The Lion King as a contemporary classic. Is it a kids movie? You bet. Pixar is another example. They're quite possibly the most consistent big budget studio in Hollywood in the last 20 years or so; they've rarely made a bad film. When I hear people try and frame an argument in this manner, so as to suggest that kids movies are in some way beneath them, it reeks of a rather
juvenile elitism. I can't take it seriously.
In any case, the Marvel films all tend to lend themselves to cheap shots pretty easily, but all of that nonsense is provably untrue at one level or another. We've all heard(and made) the same jabs before, with the two most commong being '
it's for kids!' & '
it's a campy, cheesy comedy!'
Already touched on the former, but a couple of things regarding the latter. First of all, I notice that it's becoming more common for people to dismiss any and all humor that they simply don't enjoy as being camp or cheese. That's foolishness. Camp, when done well(like all things), is hysterically funny. I have to wonder if these folks who dismiss camp have ever seen films from the Bill & Ted, Porky's, Police Academy, or...Evil Dead franchises. That being said, humor you don't like isn't necessarily camp. Call it bad, call it lame, call it boring, but don't call it camp if that's not what it is.
My last point is heavy on generalization, so bear with me(or not)
Seriousness and 'maturity' are another one of the criticisms I see getting tossed around as of late, and it suggests to me that people are beginning to fall in love with the tone of certain movies more than subject matter itself. I won't bother to list them; I'm not looking to open up that can of worms, but far too many light-hearted, humorous, or 'feel-good' films have a certain prejudice levied against them, as if they are in a class below movies filled with angst, bleak moods, pathos, and dire circumstances. When I think of a movie like Bridesmaids, IMO it's a very clever, well written and intelligent comedy that's throughly entertaining...but even with the positive reception, I don't see it being revered as a great film in the long run due to this very prejudice. A far cry from a CBM, but just an example. /rant