Hollywood directing royalty Martin Scorsese has spoken out on the commercially successful Marvel films.

In case your memory needs refreshing, earlier this year, Avengers: Endgame smashed the box office record for the highest-grossing movie of all time, beating the record previously held by James Cameron's Avatar, which was released in 2009.

"I tried, you know?" Scorsese said of watching Marvel's movies, the Guardian reports. "But that's not cinema."

He continued: "Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn't the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being."

However, this is not the first time that Marvel movies have received such criticism, and last year the head of Marvel, Kevin Feige, said that the movies' failure to win big critically was not a reflection on their worth.

"Maybe it's easy to dismiss VFX or flying people or spaceships or billion-dollar grosses," Feige said. "I think it is easy to say that you have already been awarded in a certain way. [Alfred] Hitchcock never won best director, so it's very nice, but it doesn't mean everything. I would much rather be in a room full of engaged fans."

Meanwhile, Scorsese's latest creation, The Irishman, was met with rave reviews from critics when it premiered at the New York Film Festival last weekend, with particular praise being given to its use of "de-aging" technology.

Hollywood directing royalty Martin Scorsese has spoken out on the commercially successful Marvel films.

In case your memory needs refreshing, earlier this year, Avengers: Endgame smashed the box office record for the highest-grossing movie of all time, beating the record previously held by James Cameron's Avatar, which was released in 2009.

"I tried, you know?" Scorsese said of watching Marvel's movies, the Guardian reports. "But that's not cinema."

He continued: "Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn't the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being."

However, this is not the first time that Marvel movies have received such criticism, and last year the head of Marvel, Kevin Feige, said that the movies' failure to win big critically was not a reflection on their worth.

"Maybe it's easy to dismiss VFX or flying people or spaceships or billion-dollar grosses," Feige said. "I think it is easy to say that you have already been awarded in a certain way. [Alfred] Hitchcock never won best director, so it's very nice, but it doesn't mean everything. I would much rather be in a room full of engaged fans."

Meanwhile, Scorsese's latest creation, The Irishman, was met with rave reviews from critics when it premiered at the New York Film Festival last weekend, with particular praise being given to its use of "de-aging" technology.