9 Directors Who Only Made One Good Movie

V For Vendetta started life as a graphic novel, written by Alan Moore in 1982. 23 years later, it was adapted to film by the Wachowskis, with first-time director James McTeigue taking on duties behind the camera.

While the movie released to a middling critical response, it's undergone a reappraisal in the following years and is now considered a flawed classic. One constant, however, has been the praise given to the movie's direction. From McTeigue's use of bold, popping colours to snappy cuts, he managed to translate the experience of reading an artistically rich graphic novel on to cinema screens thrillingly.

This promising start did not pave the way for an exciting auteur, however. Releasing a new movie pretty consistently once every three years, McTeigue hasn't since been able to make anything that could even be considered tepid. Movies such as The Invasion and Survivor were derided for their shallow story-telling and inconsequential action.

Tellingly, however, McTeigue never took on writing duties for any of his movies, with many of them being praised only for their direction. His career has since come full-circle, having worked on arguably his only other 'good' movie with Lana Wachowski last year, The Matrix Resurrections. That was as producer, though, so doesn't count here.