Unfortunately, a stuntman drowned on the set of Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger recently. This tragedy brought some stupid comments from the trolls of this world, claiming “as if this movie wasn’t bad enough!”- but this does once again highlight a very troubled production.
In my mind, there is no doubt that The Lone Ranger will be an utter flop. The troubles it has been through before it even went into production were bad enough- script drafts with werewolves, a disgustingly inflating budget… And no small part of this is down to its director, Gore Verbinski
Sure, the remake of The Ring and The Mexican weren’t very good, but even the greats slip up- Spielberg has Always, Kubrick has Eyes Wide Shut, Hitchcock, Peckinpah, Cassavetes, Altman, Ford, Lean… all the greats have had misses as well as hits. Now, I’m not for one second suggesting Verbinski is one the masters of cinema- he’s not. But what I am saying is he is cut above hacks like Tim Story, Len Wiseman and Paul W.S. Anderson.
I intend to show you why he does not deserve all the criticism he gets, and also why he is worth praising to some extent. So, here are three reasons Gore Verbinski is actually quite a good director…
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6 Comments
What’s wrong with The Ring? That’s a solid adaptation in my mind.
I admit, I went into reading this thinking that there was no way I could be convinced Gore Verbinski is a good director…the article came very close, but my dislike of the director won out (sorry). But I applaud you for coming out with some valid points about his work.
Fair enough. Out of interest, is there any particular reason you dislike him? I know many do, I’m just curious
It’s because I find this directing style bland and formulaic. I think the whole Jack Sparrow thing was not because of Verbinski as a director but blind luck.
i have to say i watched Rango this weekend with my son. he wasnt interested but i enjoyed it a lot :)
4.) The last 30 minutes of POTC 2, in which everybody fights everybody up and down and round and round a small island, then a giant squid attacks a ship, killing near everybody on board with something that seems like a million tentacles and none of it feels confusing or convoluted. Most directos these days can’t even stage a fist fight or a car chase without making the audience guess what the hell is going on.