As well as having quite possibly the most pretentious moniker in the entire industry, the former producer and music video director turned big-budget film-maker is also responsible for some of the most vapid, lifeless studio fare to hit multiplexes in recent years. Ironically considering the title of this article, his most recent directorial effort, Taken-lite 3 Days To Kill, is both his cheapest and least commercially successful endeavour. Awarded a $93m budget for his directorial debut, McG bestowed the world with Charlie's Angels. Although the cast seem to be enjoying themselves, no plot, no drama, no tension and poorly-written characters are the order of the day in this slice of slickly directed high-camp that made almost $265m at the box office. The $120m sequel made almost as much money, but was a great deal worse, an exercise in style over substance that landed seven Razzie nominations in the process. Trying his hand at drama with We Are Marshall, inspired by a true story and featuring a talented ensemble cast, the movie failed to even recoup its $65m budget at the box office. So naturally someone decided he was the right man for directing the $200m Terminator Salvation. A couple of good set-pieces and impressive effects fail to cover up the fact that this was the worst entry in the franchise by far, and one that saw disappointing box office returns of $371.4m. McG's next effort was This Means War, an awful $65m spy caper that wasted the talents of Tom Hardy, Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon but alarmingly did solid box office business. After 14 years, six features and over $570m in production costs, the troubling fact remains that McG is still yet to make a good movie. Do you agree that these directors should be kept away from big-budget movies? Are any of these names being treated harshly by their inclusion? Are there any other directors that you would have chosen? As always, mouth off in the comments below.
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