The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy Director James Gunn Explains Why He Doesn’t Bash Bad Movies Online

James Gunn is a filmmaker best known for helming Guardians of the Galaxy and his next movie, The Suicide Squad, is only a few months away from being released. Gunn is a big film fan and often takes to Twitter to share his movie opinions and post lists of his favorites. However, you won’t catch Gunn bashing movies he doesn’t like online. The director took to Twitter today to explain why he doesn’t like to say bad things about movies and he told a story about the time a filmmaker called him up to give some “constructive criticism” he never asked for.

Director Steven C. Miller posted the following on Twitter: “As a general rule, I won’t publicly talk about movies I don’t like. I know the struggle to get made & respect the filmmaking process WAY too much to shit on anyone’s work. I find it easier to talk about films I think are exciting & fun rather than dunking on those that fell flat.” Gunn saw the tweet and replied, “Same. Movies are hard to make and too many people put every ounce of themselves into films that still don’t turn out well for me to publicly denigrate them (at dinner parties and the work of dead filmmakers are a different story for me).” He added, “By the way, this is my rule as a filmmaking professional. That doesn’t mean I think all of you shouldn’t or can’t talk about movies you don’t like.”

Gunn then made a second thread sharing his story. “I once had an older director friend – who had directed a few decent movies in the 80’s & early ’90’s & not much watchable since – call me up after seeing a film of mine in a theater & going through point-by-point, what he thought of as ‘constructive criticism,’” Gunn tweeted. “I was like, ‘Dude, firstly, the movie is out. Don’t be telling me a bunch of stuff I can’t fix. I’ve got a pile of reviews here already doing that for me. And, secondly, I didn’t ask.’ I was miffed about it & have avoided this guy since. I don’t know why I thought of this but basically my rule is: I give my critical thoughts to filmmakers who ASK for them, which happens sometimes on early cuts of films. But even then I’ll usually leave out thoughts on things that can’t be changed (i.e. ‘replace the main actor’).”

Someone in the comments asked Gunn, “I mean this as an honest question, but despite not being able to fix the things after release, isn’t it still partially constructive to avoid making the same or a similar misstep in the future?” The director replied, “Professional filmmakers get thousands of criticisms upon a film’s release. It’s unavoidable. I don’t need friends calling & piling on with their own ideas (which, by the way, weren’t insightful) when I don’t ask. This isn’t to say I don’t hardcore ask for the opinions of professionals & others in screenings before I finish a film. I’m vigilant & as courageous as I can be with what the truth of a film’s appeal is. I don’t deny a film’s failings. & I don’t surround myself with ‘Yes’ people.”

What do you think about Gunn’s latest posts, which you can view here and here? Tell us in the comments!