What is a great director? Is it Stanley Kubrick using the language of film in a way that makes his movies a delight to understand but not-so-great at the box office? Perhaps it’s the anti-Kubrick, Michael Bay, who makes movies that seem motion captured from kids playing with toys but make a billion dollars? Or maybe Spielberg who exists as both a critical and commercial mastermind? The work required to direct a film is not easy, so anyone who completes even one film is a great director in my book. So, on this day of his birth, we look at the films of Zack Snyder, a great director in his own right. What makes him great? The fact that most people reading this either love him or hate him, for starters.
One of our great critics here at MFR, EJ Moreno, sums up Zack Snyder in a way that I completely agree with. Zack Snyder is Michael Bay after a stint at art school. It’s true, Snyder presents all the stunning, visceral visuals of a Bay movie with the slick design and composition of a graphic designer. Even the biggest haters of Snyder’s work have to admit that the man’s movies are beautiful.
1. Music Videos
Before movies, Snyder was a music video director. One of his early works, “Somebody to Shove” by Soul Asylum is a masterpiece of sight and sound. Snyder’s knack for making viewers feel the physicality of the scene shines. In 2009, Snyder directed his first music video in 15 years for My Chemical Romance’s “Desolation Row.”
