I mean, Hellboy was a decent popcorn flick, but it's sequel was pretty lame, other than that he directed the odd Cronos and the terrible Mimic. I do not see how this guy has so many people giving him credibility. M. Night Shamylan has a WAY better track record when compared to del Toro...
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shareSixth Sense - Amazing 5/5
Unbreakable - Good performances, decent ending 3.5/5
Signs - Interesting, fast paced, good acting and a decent ending, (although at this point the twist ending was getting old). 4/5
The Village - amazing cast, great visuals, thrills an amazing story with a letdown ending, (although it was still bearable) 4/5
Lady in the Water - a failed experiment 2/5
I don't know what the *beep* "The Happening" was. Maybe Shamylan was trying to make a comedy 1/5
The Last Airbender - 0/5 a blatant cash grab that wasted Shamylan's talent.
You've got to admit, (and the critics agree), that 4/7 of his films were great, and I respect him for trying to do something different with Lady in the Water. He's done a hell of a lot more as a director and writer than Del Toro, who is held up as the golden god of filmmaking when he's really only made one great film, (Pan's Labyrinth).
Why? Easy: not everybody agrees with you.
Case fücking closed.
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No sh!t. That's why I asked why people respect him. I like to hear thoughts other than my own, maybe that idea is foreign to you.
shareWhat I respect the most about Del Toro is the man's creativity. You could make an argument that he's not the best DIRECTOR in the world, but there are very few out there with an eye for visuals quite like Del Toro. And I think that's what people in general respond to.
I think that's what made Pan's Labyrinth such a big hit, but I definitely wouldn't say it was a one-hit wonder. It was just his break-out movie. It's just that, unfortunately for his fans, he's been fighting production nightmare after nightmare since then. He's only directed Hellboy 2 since 2006.
And it's not for lack of trying, if you read his press...
So yeah, maybe he's not the best director out there, but he's got a solid spot in my personal top 5.
What lucky said. It's the attention to detail that he pays.
And if you check out his filmography, he's only done 1 movie (Hellboy 2) since Pan's Labyrinth. I still think most of his best work is ahead of him.
I also like M Night Shyamalan, but I don't think he's as talented or committed as Del Toro. I'd say he's done 2 3/4ths great movies though (Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs). Shyamalan sort of set himself up for a failure after Signs. He's just become a progressively worse writer, if he would only direct scripts that've already been written he might've been okay but I think he let his ego get in the way.
Night created a cultural phenomenon with Sixth Sense, there's no denying that. And I'd really like to see him make a return to form, but the last 3-4 movies he's done haven't given me much hope. And if you compare the trajectories of their careers, Del Toro was just sort of hitting his stride in 2006 whereas Shyamalan made a few great movies and then it turned into a situation of diminishing returns. It's sort of funny that Pan's and Lady in the Water coincided the same year (similar fantastical elements, one movie lifted a career, the other not so much).
You've got to admit, (and the critics agree), that 4/7 of his films were great
Since you're talking critically, I'm going to use RottenTomatoes scale of rating and valuing ("GOOD" = 60% or better).
Let's analyze, shall we?
M. Night Shyamalan:
The Sixth Sense: 85% (GOOD)
Unbreakable: 68% (GOOD)
Signs: 74% (GOOD)
The Village: 43% (BAD)
Lady in the Water: 24% (BAD)
The Happening: 17% (BAD)
The Last Airbender: 6% (BAD)
So he has 3/7 movies that are considered critically "good".
Guillermo del Toro:
Cronos: 91% (GOOD)
Mimic: 61% (GOOD)
The Devil's Backbone: 91% (GOOD)
Blade II: 59% (BAD)
Hellboy: 80% (GOOD)
Pan's Laybrinth: 95% (GOOD)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army: 86% (GOOD)
So he has 6/7 movies that are considered critically "good".
Also note, 4/6 of those films have a higher rating than Shyamalan's most critically acclaimed film.
I don't think anybody is going to tell you that you HAVE TO agree with the ratings of all these films, different people have different tastes. Heck, I don't even agree with all of them. But I don't think it's hard to see that even if you don't like most of his films, why other people might have so much respect for del Toro as a director.
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