Why Martin Campbell Is One of the Most Underrated Directors Ever

Although his name isn’t as instantly recognizable as someone like Spielberg, Martin Campbell is behind a lot of films that many consider classics.

The term “great director” or “auteur” is commonly used as a way to reference filmmakers with a very distinctive style that defines a genre in of itself; directors like Wes Anderson or Quentin Tarantino have such instantly recognizable styles that no one would ever mistake their films as anyone else’s. While this can be a useful technique in showing the ability that a filmmaker has, it can sometimes be a poor way to encapsulate what truly makes a director special. A filmmaker like Ridley Scott is considered to be one of the greatest directors of all time, even if films like The Martian, Blade Runner, The Last Duel, and Alien all represent completely different types of filmmaking.

As a result, there are directors that aren’t necessarily “auteurs” who deserve to be considered masters of their craft. Martin Campbell is certainly one director who falls into that category. Although his name isn’t as instantly recognizable as someone like Steven Spielberg or Christopher Nolan, Campbell is behind a lot of films that many cinephiles would consider to be classics. The release of Campbell’s recent film The Protege incited many to reflect upon his legacy, and thankfully the New Zealand filmmaker has an exciting upcoming slate of projects including the new action film Cleaner with Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley. Here’s why Martin Campbell is one of the most underrated directors ever.

Prior to Campbell’s initial involvement with the series in 1995, it was not common for the James Bond franchise to use well-known directors. While the franchise now goes for Academy Award-winners like Sam Mendes (who directed Skyfall and Spectre) and established genre titans like Cary Joji Fukunagua (who directed No Time To Die), there was no precedent for a truly notable filmmaker having a major role in crafting the franchise. More often than not, the directors hired to come in and direct Bond films were those that could do anything the producers wanted with the character and handle some of the more complex action sequences.

However, the Bond franchise was in a much different place in 1995 than it is today. It had been six years since the last Bond film, and Timothy Dalton’s darker take on the character did not go over favorably with audiences expecting the same sort of humor as had come from the Roger Moore films. Dalton’s The Living Daylights and License to Kill pushed the franchise in a darker direction after Moore’s outrageous stretch of comedic Bond films like Octopussy and A View To A Kill.

However, Campbell helped change that tone by finding the right middle ground with Goldeneye. Not only did he establish a new Bond with Pierce Brosnan, but he added one of the greatest villains the franchise had ever seen with Sean Bean’s 006, a former MI6 agent turned rogue. Goldeneye isn’t just one of the best Bond films ever, but one of the greatest action films of the 1990s.

Related: GoldenEye and Casino Royale Director Martin Campbell Is Game to Direct Bond 26

Campbell was brought in again to help resurrect the Bond franchise in 2006 with Casino Royale. Although Campbell had initially established a much more nuanced version of Brosnan’s Bond, the series had become increasingly silly with each installment that followed. While 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies still respected the character, 1999’s The World Is Not Enough and 2002’s Die Another Day turned Bond into a joke. Campbell decided to completely reinvent Bond with a film that finally told his origin story; Casino Royale was based on Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel, and told the story of his first mission.

He firmly established Daniel Craig as the franchise’s darkest Bond ever; many would argue that he is also its best. Campbell also understood that he needed to introduce a version of the series that would reverberate across generations. Casino Royale isn’t just a perfect film for Bond fans; someone unfamiliar with the franchise would be able to use it as the perfect getaway film to get into the series for the first time.

Campbell has also shown his versatility in directing many different types of films within the action genre. Even though the popular hero “Zorro” exists in the public domain and can be adapted by any different studio or filmmaker, Campbell’s 1998 adventure film The Mask of Zorro stands as the definitive version of the character. In a time when it could have reverted to cliches of the era, The Mask of Zorro wowed audiences with its two depictions of the character. Both Sir Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas are equally sensational.

Survivalist films are also a unique subcategory of action filmmaking that deserves to be taken seriously; Vertical Limit represents one of the better examples of the genre, and Campbell provided that he could make a movie star out of Chris O’Donnell. Campbell’s other notable action classics include the Ray Liotta vehicle No Escape and the underrated Mel Gibson comeback thriller Edge of Darkness.

Related: Why Casino Royale Director Sweated the Poker Scenes Over Any James Bond Action

Unfortunately, most modern directors seem to be solely judged based on the work that they do in the superhero genre. Ironically, The Mask of Zorro works better as a film about “caped crusaders” than most comic book movies do! Campbell has the unfortunate credit of having directed 2011’s Green Lantern, which is well regarded as one of the most disappointing comic book movies ever made. However, this was not all Campbell’s fault.

The issue with Green Lantern is that the writers and producers wanted to turn what could have been a fun science fiction adventure film into a generic star vehicle for Ryan Reynolds. Campbell has humor in all of his films, but he tends to take them more seriously than the tone that Green Lantern seems to be going for. That being said, Green Lantern is certainly more watchable than other modern DC films such as Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman 1984, and Jonah Hex, which have no redeeming value whatsoever.

Liam Gaughan is a writer at MovieWeb. He has been writing film reviews and news coverage for eight years with bylines at Collider, Dallas Observer, About.com, Taste of Cinema, Dallas Morning News, Schmoes Know, Rebel Scum, and Central Track. He aims to get his spec scripts produced and currently writes short films and stage plays. He lives in McKinney, TX.