The latest film from directorJohn Woo,Silent Night, promises to be a revenge thriller filled with lots of action, and while the director is known for such movies asMission: Impossible 2,Face/Off, andHard Target, which also feature big-budget sequences, the Hong Kong filmmaker has revealed that he doesn’t watch superhero movies. And he isn’t holding back on how he feels about them. In an interview withThe New Yorkerto promote his return to American theaters, when asked if he watches superhero movies, Woo answered:
“I’ve never liked watching movies with big special effects, or anything based on comic books.”
He would go on to talk about how he prefers Martin Scorsese films, and old-fashioned movies.
“I prefer Martin Scorsese’s movies, that kind of cinema. I can’t wait to watchKillers of the Flower Moon. I like old-fashioned movies, you know? Real cinema. There aren’t many movies like that lately.”
Woo’s comments come just a couple of months after Martin Scorsese found himselfat the center of controversyregarding his views on superhero movies, where his criticism of the genre dates back to 2019, when he compared Marvel films to theme park rides and said, “It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”
In an article published in GQ back in September 2023, Scorsese reflected on how cinema must be saved from manufactured content.
“The danger there is what it’s doing to our culture. Because there are going to be generations now that think movies are only those — that’s what movies are. They already think that. Which means that we have to then fight back stronger. And it’s got to come from the grassroots level. It’s gotta come from the filmmakers themselves. And you’ll have, you know, the Safdie brothers, and you’ll have Chris Nolan, you know what I mean? And hit ’em from all sides. Hit ’em from all sides, and don’t give up. Let’s see what you got. Go out there and do it. Go reinvent. Don’t complain about it. But it’s true, because we’ve got to save cinema. I do think that the manufactured content isn’t really cinema. No, I don’t want to say it. But what I mean is that, it’s manufactured content. It’s almost like AI making a film.”
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Silent Night Marks John Woo’s Return to American Cinema
Silent Night
John Woo hasn’t directed a movie for American audiences since 2003’sPaycheck, the science fiction action film based on a short story by Philip K. Dick. In the 20 years since, he’s been busy making films for Asian audiences, but his new movie,Silent Night, which stars Joel Kinnaman as a father looking to avenge his son’s death on Christmas Eve, is a return to Hollywood for the 77-year-old director. The film, which also stars Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi),features almost no dialogue, and instead relies on its visual storytelling and action sequences to compel audiences.
Woo revealed in his interview with The New Yorker how he feels like he’s coming home after being away from the Hollywood system for so long.
“I was so excited when I got the script forSilent Night. There’s no dialogue in the entire movie! I thought this would be very good for me because it lets me use my gifts for telling a story visually. I’m always on the lookout for good stories. It just so happened that this is a Hollywood production. I also never felt like I was coming back to Hollywood, since, to me, I never left Hollywood. I simply made a few movies in China over the past two decades. Coming back to Hollywood actually feels like coming home.”
Silent Nightdebuts in theaters on June 01, 2025, and you may check out the trailer below.
