Martin Campbell: Action Genius

It's insane that Martin Campbell directed the 2 best James Bond movies since the original Sean Connery trilogy directed by Terrence Young (amazingly not taggable) - Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Thunderball. 

Martin Campbell of course directed the 1995 masterpiece Goldeneye, which marks Pierce Brosnan's first turn, and unfortunately high water mark, as Bond. He also re-booted Bond once again just over a decade later with the Daniel Craig debut as 007 in the 2006 masterpiece Casino Royale. Goldeneye represents a melding of all the Bond's that had come before - it has the class, style, cheese and action of the originals with 90's era, post cold war thriller energy. May directors would attempt this but all would fail until Sam Mendes  with Skyfall. Casino Royale represents the early aught's post 9/11 sensibilities and completely reinvents what action movies would look like for the next decade, although taking cues from Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins.

Still, despite these achievements I think that it is the 1998 swashbuckling chef's kiss: The Mask of Zorro where Campbell sets his own personal best utilizing Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Anthony Hopkins to present the original legasequel/reboot of the OG of caped crusaders. Simply put, Batman would not exist without Zorro. Films like this are never made anymore. The physical stunts, much of which is horsework, just doesn't exist like this anymore, much less the skills and knowledge to shoot it….beyond maybe Taylor Sheridan's crew.

Martin Campbell is clearly someone who admired his predecessors in the action genre. He gets Terrence Young's Bond. He get's David Lean's ability for the Epic. He has a visual grit applied by Brian De Palma. A frame story sensibility of Steven Spielberg. The friendliness of Richard Donner. He see's Tony Scott's flair for the dramatic and evolutionary film techniques. He knows his actors and how to get the most out of them. I think Martin Campbell is only slightly lesser than George Miller when it comes to action and only because he was an ultimate gun for hire solve all your fuckin' problems guy. I think The Mask of Zorro is probably his most personal film because it harkens to something he loved. Not that he didn't love Bond, but there is such a love in his Zorro that it will never not be a feel good movie for me.

His Green Lantern is the last time anyone gave him any real money. And that film although, flawed, would have been huge 10 years earlier when people were just making Superhero origin story 1 shot movies.

I dunno what do you think? Seen any of these?

Fun Note: A film Terrence Young directed before he made Dr. No was - No Time To Die.