Director John Woo weighs in on the superhero movie debate: "I prefer Martin Scorsese's movies"

Director John Woo has weighed in on the superhero movie discussion – and the action legend isn't a fan of capes and tights. In fact, he prefers the movies of Martin Scorsese.

"I’ve never liked watching movies with big special effects, or anything based on comic books," he told The New York Times in a new interview. "I prefer Martin Scorsese’s movies, that kind of cinema. I can’t wait to watch Killers of the Flower Moon. I like old-fashioned movies, you know? Real cinema. There aren’t many movies like that lately."

Woo has helmed Hollywood actioners like Face/Off, starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, and Mission: Impossible 2, but he's probably best known for directing action flicks like A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Bullet in the Head in his home country of Hong Kong.

His next movie – and first Hollywood film since 2003 – is Silent Night. It stars The Suicide Squad's Joel Kinnaman as a normal father struck by tragedy after his young son gets caught in the crossfire of a gang's drive-by shooting on Christmas Eve. The attack sees him fall into the criminal underworld as he sets out on a bloody mission of revenge and, having lost his voice due to a throat injury sustained during the same shooting, the movie has no dialogue. John Wick’s Basil Iwanyk is on board as a producer.

Silent Night hits the big screen on December 1. For more, check out our guide to the rest of the best upcoming movies on the way in 2023 and beyond.

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related. I help bring you all the latest news, features, and reviews, as well as helming our Big Screen Spotlight column. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.