Roger Deakins is always the star of Villeneuve's films

I get the feeling that the director hides a lot behind Deakins' cinematographer. I don't think he's a great storyteller. Prisoners and Sicario looked visually gorgeous, had some capable actors in them and in fact Villneuve proves himself to be good at creating set piece scenes. But I find him to be weak at storytelling and and times characterisations too. I think his flaws are often overlooked because of how masterful his films look.

Now having said all this I haven't seen his last movie Arrivals yet so maybe he's created his first really impressive film, I don't know. I think he's a good director but at the moment nothing special.