Someone Tell John Woo He Can’t Make Any More Movies

Just finished watching Paycheck, unfortunately. I knew it wasn’t going to be good, based on the reviews, but still: sci-fi, Philip K. Dick story, heck, I don’t even mind Ben Affleck. And actually, those elements (and Paul Giamatti!) were the good parts.

The bad part was the director. I’ve never seen any of John Woo’s Hong Kong pictures, but his U.S. work is nothing spectacular. Weird camera angles for no reason, the sense that every little plot subtlety has to be repeated to make sure the viewer gets it… and honestly, if I see two more people pointing guns at each other point-blank, or see another goddamn dove in a John Woo movie, I’m going to scream. Those visuals may have worked once, but now they’re just tired cliches, especially when they’re tired cliches incorporated by the guy who capitalized on them. Good thing for me, I don’t plan on seeing another John Woo movie.

Published by Jeff Carlson

Author, photographer, and late-nighter Jeff Carlson writes for outlets such as Popular Photography, DPReview, Creative Pro, and others, and is a contributing editor for TidBITS. He is the author of Take Control of Your Digital Photos; The Photographer's Guide to Luminar AI, Take Control of Apple Watch, and Take Control of Your Digital Storage, among many other titles. View all posts by Jeff Carlson