MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 Director John Woo Isn't A Fan Of Superhero Movies And Prefers "Real Cinema"

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 Director John Woo Isn't A Fan Of Superhero Movies And Prefers "Real Cinema"

Doing the rounds to promote his Hollywood comeback, Silent Night, filmmaker John Woo has become the latest filmmaker to take aim at superhero movies, sharing his support for Martin Scorsese and "cinema."

By JoshWilding - Nov 22, 2023 05:11 AM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Studios
Source: The New York Times

Filmmaker John Woo has directed heaps of action movies, both in his home country of Hong Kong and in Hollywood.

Many of you will know him best for helming Mission: Impossible 2 (largely considered the worst instalment of the franchise), but he's also worked on movies like Face/Off (starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage), A Better Tomorrow, Bullet in the Head, and The Killer

With a list of credits like that, you'd be forgiven for thinking Woo is now interested in lending his talents to a superhero movie. After all, he's currently in the process of making his Hollywood comeback - for the first time since 2003 - with Silent Night starring The Suicide Squad's Joel Kinnaman.

However, in an interview with The New York Times, the filmmaker made it clear he's no fan of the genre. 

"I’ve never liked watching movies with big special effects, or anything based on comic books," he admitted. "I prefer Martin Scorsese’s movies, that kind of cinema. I can’t wait to watch Killers of the Flower Moon. I like old-fashioned movies, you know? Real cinema. There aren’t many movies like that lately."

Despite adding his name to the list of directors who don't believe superheroes and "cinema" go hand-in-hand, Woo remains an advocate for action titles and went on to share one of his recent favourites. 

"I really love 'Hell or High Water.' Good performances, good action. It feels like a tragedy. Great cinematography, too," he says. "I tried to get its director of photography, Giles Nuttgens, to shoot 'Silent Night,' but he wasn’t available."

If we've come to realise anything in recent years, it's that filmmakers like Scorsese and Woo have seemingly realised that the best way to promote movies which aren't really drawing much attention is to take aim comic book adaptations!

The former first started the trend when he said, "I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema. 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."

Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo later responded to Scorsese with, "Ultimately, we define cinema as a film that can bring people together to have a shared, emotional experience...The other way to think about it, too, is nobody owns cinema. We don't own cinema. You don't own cinema. Scorsese doesn't own cinema."

What do you think? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 11/22/2023, 5:16 AM
Another one entering the cbm fanboy hall of shame
Gabimaru
Gabimaru - 11/22/2023, 5:21 AM
Spawnnn
Spawnnn - 11/22/2023, 5:30 AM
@Gabimaru - Just a dude that created a whole action genre. And now back to The Marvels.
Deadinside
Deadinside - 11/22/2023, 8:10 AM
@Gabimaru - No, it's Woo...!☮😉
MosquitoFarmer
MosquitoFarmer - 11/22/2023, 9:58 AM
@Gabimaru - Haha, you just make yourself look worse by posting that gif. Some of us may be older than others, but to throw shade at John Woo is a misstep on your part.
EgoEgor
EgoEgor - 11/22/2023, 11:53 AM
@Deadinside -
Deadinside
Deadinside - 11/22/2023, 4:19 PM
@EgoEgor - 😄 I laughed harder at that than I really think I should have...!☮👍
Gabimaru
Gabimaru - 11/22/2023, 10:29 PM
@MosquitoFarmer - Eh? i don't mind. i just didn't particularly like his action genre with doves dramatically flying over the screen.
Spawnnn
Spawnnn - 11/22/2023, 5:28 AM
Bro brought his shitty Hollywood misstep in the headline, because Muricans know shit.
philinterrupted
philinterrupted - 11/22/2023, 6:48 AM
@Spawnnn - he’s had more than one misstep. Which is fine, just don’t pretend this guy is infallible.
braunermegda
braunermegda - 11/22/2023, 5:30 AM
Said the director of the worst movie in the franchise, full of cgi and no deep emotions =(
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 11/22/2023, 7:31 AM
@braunermegda - lol yep

Don’t forget slow motion too.
Fogs
Fogs - 11/22/2023, 5:33 AM
He made some good action flicks, that's it. He's obv entitled to his opinion. I think it's narrow as shit, but anyway. "Anything based on comic books" has a big range there, bud. "Road to Perdition", "From Hell", "Red", were all based on CBs.

Damn, "History of Violence", the Cronenberg film with Viggo Mortensen is CB-based. Didn't know about that one.

That's almost as naïve as stating "nah, I'm not a fan of BOOK-based films".
Spawnnn
Spawnnn - 11/22/2023, 5:36 AM
@Fogs - He means capeshit cinema, obviously.
Mugens
Mugens - 11/22/2023, 5:50 AM
@Fogs - I'm glad you mentioned "Road to Perdition". Many people forgot or don't realize that that particular film starring Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Daniel Craig, Jude Law, and a pre-Superman youngster named Tyler Hoechlin was indeed a comic book movie. I wonder what kind of "cinema" these Directors think that film is, if at all.
Fogs
Fogs - 11/22/2023, 5:51 AM
@Spawnnn - Hmm I read again. He states "or anything based on comic books". I know what you mean, but there's not much room for interpretation there.
URCOMMENTSUCKS
URCOMMENTSUCKS - 11/22/2023, 5:53 AM
@Fogs - Well, then that's quite some statement, because he wrote a comic-book. I [frick]ing read it, even. Seven Sons or something it was called.
IronSpider101
IronSpider101 - 11/22/2023, 9:50 AM
@Fogs - Almost like it was an off the cuff statement and not something he felt he needed to be extra specific about.
Fogs
Fogs - 11/22/2023, 2:02 PM
@IronSpider101 - "anything" is a strong term, if he used that.
IronSpider101
IronSpider101 - 11/22/2023, 2:31 PM
@Fogs - Not really. It's a very common word to throw around.
Fogs
Fogs - 11/22/2023, 2:38 PM
@IronSpider101 - k den.
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 11/22/2023, 5:40 AM
There's always a mf who's got nothing better to do than ask these directors the same f*cking question in order to make the same exact shitty headline just to get some clicks and people keep falling for it.

Look what Scott Derrickson said on the matter or even Nolan.

Such a sad state of affairs...
URCOMMENTSUCKS
URCOMMENTSUCKS - 11/22/2023, 5:51 AM
John Woo should've directed Iron Man 3 and cast Tony Leong as the Mandarin back then. God, what a movie that could've been... Well, too bad the MCU was shit with its directorial choices since then.
videovac
videovac - 11/22/2023, 5:53 AM
He saw The Marvels and said: "Naw I'm good dog."
Chasekeane
Chasekeane - 11/22/2023, 6:12 AM
Starting to get the feeling that the site 'comicbookmovie.com' is trying to put itself out of business by posting negative article after negative article spin on comicbookmovie's. This whole fanbase has become asinine.
LSHF
LSHF - 11/22/2023, 7:31 AM
@Chasekeane - It's certainly making the whole thing more challenging to enjoy.
Toonstrack
Toonstrack - 11/22/2023, 9:46 PM
@Chasekeane - oh make no mistake. This site is circling the drain and its runners are actively courting the far right base and catering to their whims. Its going to backfire. Im just here to watch it burn
AllsGood
AllsGood - 11/22/2023, 6:22 AM
Cinema is what I see at the theaters not what other people see. I don't go see dramas, love stories, cartoons, and foreign movies at the theater. For me none of these are my Cinema.

To be true Cinema movies must be in movie theaters not sitting at home watching on a television screen.
JonC
JonC - 11/22/2023, 11:37 AM
@AllsGood - Cinema is whatever is playing in the theaters... the good, the bad and the ugly.
Blergh
Blergh - 11/22/2023, 6:25 AM
Bro made MI2 and Stranglehold
marvel72
marvel72 - 11/22/2023, 6:30 AM
Fair enough, it's his opinion, I don't like musicals, no different.
philinterrupted
philinterrupted - 11/22/2023, 6:46 AM
@marvel72 - I don’t watch musicals either. The difference between me and John Woo is I wouldn’t insult those movies by saying they’re not real cinema.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 11/22/2023, 6:53 AM
@philinterrupted - was about to say the same thing. I don't like certain genres either, but I'm not degrading those to something that isn't cinema.
KWilly
KWilly - 11/22/2023, 7:10 AM
@marvel72 - I hate musicals. But I'm not gonna look down on them as if they can't be great forms of film.

Just not for me.
mountainman
mountainman - 11/22/2023, 7:14 AM
@marvel72 - I will watch a musical live, but on TV or the screen, they lose any of their fun. Never seen a musical on a screen that didn’t more me to death. Live they are almost like a concert in a way.

I also feel that way about the Oscar bait dramas. Some are good, but many of them bore me to death. And that is “cinema” to some people.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 11/22/2023, 6:53 AM
''That kind of cinema'' kinda implied to me the CBMs are another kind of cinema, but still cinema. But then he had to throw in ''Real cinema'' and that's where he lost me.

Still, I'd recommend him The Creator. That movie had great cinematography. It had some special and visual effects, but it didn't feel overwhelming at all.
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