20 Times Directors You Trust Totally Let You Down

7. Martin Campbell - Green Lantern

The Phantom Menace Yoda Ewan McGregor
Warner Bros.

The Director:

This New Zealand director is a talented action filmmaker with a prosperous career behind him. He also directed Goldeneye and Casino Royale, which are two of the best James Bond films.

The Film:

Green Lantern is usually seen as one of the worst superhero films of all time, and that is fully justified. A soulless, overdone blockbuster so full of bad CGI it could be mistaken for a terrible children's cartoon, this is an embarrassing failure all across the board.

It's yet another bad starring role for poor Ryan Reynolds, who's talented but always ends up in bad movies. As for Campbell, he didn't even seem to be trying. Compare this to something like the insane construction site chase scene from Casino Royale, and it only becomes even more baffling that it's the same director.

In terms of good stuff that came out of this... a hilariously silly bit of Hot Wheels product placement should provide some unintentional laughter, while this is where Ryan Reynolds met Blake Lively. They're now a cute celebrity couple with kids, so they're probably glad they did this movie. Everyone else involved, especially Martin Campbell, would no doubt prefer to forget it.

Has He Bounced Back?

He directed the Jackie Chan vehicle The Foreigner recently, which was a better-received venture.

Contributor

Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.