I felt 'Quantum of Solace' completely lost its way. We were lucky on 'Casino Royale:' it was the origin story of Bond. Bond had the one and only affair that meant anything to him, and affected him throughout the rest of the series.
— Martin Campbell
The thing is, the Superman comics have been around a long time, and so have the movies. They've done a lot of Superman movies, as they have with Batman.
With 'GoldenEye,' the franchise got locked into this legal fight. They couldn't make new Bond movies for about seven years. It was my first huge production. I figured if I did at least a yeoman-like job, it would be greeted as a complete revival of the series.
I always look at these superhero films, and I see people hurdling towards at a hundred miles per hour, and then they get up, shake their head, and charge back at a hundred miles per hour. Nobody seems to really get injured or hurt. I don't find any threat in that. There is no tension in that whatsoever.
It's much easier to make a Superman or Batman film than a Green Lantern film.
I'm not a 3-D man; I'm a 2-D man.
Bond in 'Goldeneye' is pretty much a set character. To be honest, he's another version of Connery, and Connery was terrific. How many submarines can you blow up? How many control rooms are evaporating?
If you compare it to 'Batman' and 'Superman,' the world of 'Green Lantern' is way bigger and potentially way more interesting in a lot of ways, I think.
You could say that Iron Man was a second-tier character, and it turned out very successfully. I simply think it's down to the movie itself, and whether people enjoy the movie, are involved in the movie, and that it entertains them. From that point of view, the movie has to stand alone.
I tried to get a job as a TV cameraman and they basically told me, 'You're mad, everyone wants these jobs - and if you go to England, you're doubly mad.' But I worked in abattoirs for 10 months to earn my money, then left for London. I didn't even know what a director did.
The 3D thing has been abused slightly, I think. There is no question about that. 'Avatar' did it magnificently, and then, of course, there was the old 'leaping on the bandwagon' thing where there have been one or two films which, let's face it, all know look bloody awful with the 3D.
I like pre-production and post the best. I don't like shooting at all. I find it grueling and tough, but I love post and the whole process of seeing the film finally come together. You start ironing out all the rough spots, and the really bad bits you just throw away. So from day one of post to the last day, you see nothing but improvements.
