One of the craziest things that happened this weekend was Ben Affleck being tabbed as the newest Batman, this time for Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel sequel as well as a potential Justice League film. The backlash was loud and people were legitimately upset that someone new has taken on the role.
People went overboard, as expected, because it was an unconventional pick. Affleck is an Oscar winning writer/director and had his chance at comic book hero fame in Daredevil, a substantial misfire. It basically came down to hacky jokes and rage, sounding something like “OMG THE GIGLI GUY IS BATMAN! MY CHILDHOOD HAS BEEN WATER BOARDED. THANKS WARNER BROS” and the like from the usual suspects. And then the backlash to the backlash began, et al, and no one has really done anything but use SEO inspired linkbait to talk about Batman in my opinion.
Really this is a tale of two actors: Ben Affleck and Christian Bale. Both are working on their legacy, which is why one is playing Batman and the other has left that part of his career behind him.
Let’s be candid: Christian Bale was such a great Batman/Bruce Wayne combination that anyone else seems like a letdown. My personal opinion is that if Jesus Christ himself was named as the new Batman people would’ve crapped all over it. Bale was such a phenomenal Batman, and we had two tremendous (and one kind of crappy) films in a trilogy that changed the definition of how we looked at the modern comic book inspired film. And Bale was a big part of why that happened; he’s easily the most talented actor who’s ever played a comic book hero and years from now, when he has another Oscar and countless nominations under his belt, it’ll almost seem like a waste of his talent for him to have been Batman.
There was always hope that Bale would come back, that somehow he’d relent and we’d have kick-ass Superman with the best Batman ever. Nolan was producing the new Superman franchise, too, and it seemed that he’d come back because it was organic. Superman was in a new world, one combining superpowers with a Nolan inspired grittier approach to the American comic book legend.
People had such a connection to Bale that anything less than him coming back, under the cowl, feels like a disappointment. With Christopher Nolan producing everyone held out hope that they’d cut him a massive a check and he’d be back. But Bale wasn’t joking when he said he was done, of course, and now the Bale era of Batman can be closed out officially. He’s now the standard by which we’ll for any actor that plays Batman from this point forward. The bar is high, of course, but it’s now the new measuring stick.
Now we have to turn and look at the new man behind the cowl, Ben Affleck.
When you look at Affleck’s career it’s marred by moments of occasional brilliance … and lot of awful, awful roles and films. Young Affleck had an awful eye for picking roles that weren’t created by Kevin Smith or himself. His filmography is almost a comedy of errors when you start from his first big period of becoming famous in the mid ‘90s. Go ahead and take a look at it right now; you’ll wonder how he ever managed to stay a high profile actor when you look at the laundry list of crap he did (and kept doing).
The more famous he became the worse it got, as well, and there was a specific reason he thanked his wife when he accepted the Best Picture Oscar for Argo. Marriage is tough, of course, but Jennifer Garner has been the best thing to ever happen to him professionally. After they got together his choices became so much better, and his career turnaround so magnificent, that she deserves some of the credit. If people can hold a grudge on how over the top the “Bennifer” era was then we have to give him the proper credit when he picked the right Jennifer.
His stretch of awful films can be tied into Affleck being a tabloid item with Jennifer Lopez (and to a lesser extent a tabloid item with Gwyneth Paltrow). Fame for a young Affleck tainted a large chunk of what we think of his career. We tend to forget that he was considered to be insanely talented when he was nominated for an Oscar as an actor, and won as a writer, for Good Will Hunting. The stench of Reindeer Games, Gigli, Jersey Girl, Surviving Christmas and the like became so awful that we forget that he was supposed to be the one that became a star from Good Will Hunting.
That was almost 20 years ago and anything beyond 10 years is an eternity in Hollywood.
Affleck was going to be the big star, not Matt Damon, and he kind of blew it. Damon went through a similar series of bad choices, up until The Bourne Identity changed his career trajectory, but his projected ceiling as an actor/star was a lot lower back then. We kept waiting for Affleck to flash that talent and for a decade plus it never happened … though he was the bomb in Phantoms, yo.
He took so many awful films that the talent he showed once upon a time was considered a flash in the pan; no one expected him to have anything of note remaining. He was a cautionary tale at one point to every young actor out there: pick your roles carefully.
It was Hollywoodland in 2006 that started the upward trend. He got together with Garner in 2005 and usually an actor’s choices being influenced by a significant other take a year to reflect. His film choices have been the best of his career since then: small but good parts in Smokin’ Aces, He’s Just Not That Into You and Extract coupled with State of Play, an underrated performance in The Company Men and film carrying roles in The Town and Argo. He hasn’t had an awful choice since 2005 or so; you can respect the roles he took.
He’s Just Not That Into You is the weak link, of course, but he had a small part in an ensemble cast. And if that’s a weak link in nearly a decade of film-making that’s a product of great role selection. It’s the sign of an actor looking to redefine the way people look at him, to ignore the easy joke and take a genuine look at his career. And I think it began once he stopped being a tabloid star, stopped trying to be a movie star and got back to wanting to be a great actor.
Affleck’s career trajectory has changed because he got the family, didn’t need the fame and apparently is well set financially. Being young and hungry after the career-exploding film of Good Will Hunting got him a ton of projects with substantial salaries attached to them. He struck while the iron was hot by taking the biggest paychecks offered; the films they came with all turned out to be pretty awful in retrospect.
When his career finally bottomed out, as he looked to become someone who went DTV instead of into theatres, a light turned on. He wanted to be the great actor that we all thought he’d have become by this point. Right now Affleck is fully aware that most of his career has been tainted by the bad choices he made as a younger man, chasing big salaries and big budget parts. He wanted to be a star, not an actor. You don’t take roles in films designed to make you into a movie star, not a great actor, if you want respect in your profession.
It’s the downside of being in blockbusters and big budget action films after a while. Tropic Thunder gave us the perfect example of this. Everyone wants to be Tugg Speedman, saving the world, but no one really respects his craft. It’s easy to be Tugg but hard to be Kurt Lazarus. He was respected for his craft because being the best actor in the world isn’t easy. Being a movie star isn’t, either, but it’s not given the due respect it should be. It’s the difference between being Wilco or One Direction.
The other is loved because their musicians, the other mocked for being a boy band. Cinematically … no one is screaming “I want to be in a Michael Bay blockbuster” because they want people to respect their abilities as a thespian. You do it to get the commercial bonafides; the critical ones are much harder.
Affleck will probably be remembered for always chasing something. As a young actor he chased fame and fortune, leading it to negatively affect how he think of him in such a profound way that the past decade of a fairly remarkable career turnaround is forgotten because he sucked in Daredevil. Now he’s chasing his legacy … everything he’s picking has turned out to be nothing but positive so far.
I wouldn’t bet against the trend continuing.
A Movie A Week – The Challenge
This Week’s DVD – The Last Stand
When it comes to turning actors into action heroes the list is long and undistinguished; most actors tend to fail and wind up having an action film (or three) on their resume. There’s a reason why people still cling to the action stars of yesteryear: they know how to be ACTION STARS, not just actors in an action film. And the 13 year old in me was giddy in January when the action king returned.
It’s a simple film. Bad guys want to go through Arnold Schwarzenegger’s town en route to Mexico. Homey don’t play that, of course, and it’s up to Arnold and his rag tag team of small town caps to save the day.
I reviewed it here and my feelings haven’t changed. Good action flick, nice return for Arnold, but not a brilliant film by any stretch of the imagination. It’s closer to Raw Deal on the Schwarzenegger action resume in terms of quality, good while watching but ultimately forgettable.
Recommended.
What Looks Good This Weekend, and I Don’t Mean the $2 Pints of Bass Ale and community college co-eds with low standards at the Alumni Club
Closed Circuit – Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall unweave a massive conspiracy in London revolving around
See It – I like the casting and with the NSA being big news this could be an interesting take on the modern surveillance state from across the pond.
Getaway – They’ve got his wife … now Ethan Hawke has to use his awesome driving skills to save her. And Selena Gomez is there to scream as Hawke drives FAST, yo.
See It – Hawke only picks studio fare that’s worth his time, as he should be a much bigger star by the this point in his career than he is, and thusly I’m curious to see this film. This year Ethan Hawke has been the most bankable actor available. The Purge winds up being made for little and grossing a ton. Before Midnight took its usual tiny budget and art house approach to clear $8 million or so, which for a third film in a trilogy who’s budgets may have approach $3 million in total that’s amazing. Johnny Depp may have made more money, gross, but The Lone Ranger lost more money than was spent on all three of Hawke’s 2013 films.
One Direction: This is Us – A biopic/concert film about the band that was created on the British version of “X-Factor” and became a big to do about something. If you’re older than 13 they’re the band you will most likely confuse with The Wanted, like I did.
Skip it – This isn’t me being a jerk and saying skip it because I can’t stand the band; that gets reserved for artists I can’t stand. I have no opinion on One Direction because I’ve got no clue who the funk they are. Anytime you have a biopic/concert film for a pop artist aimed at tweens the audience is going to be tweens and their parents. No adult without kids will look like they fit in and, if you’re a guy, you’ll look like a pedophile waiting to strike. So unless you’re a tween, or a parent of a tween (bringing said tween or tweens), I say wait until it hits DVD.
Scott “Kubryk” Sawitz brings his trademarked irreverence and offensive hilarity to Twitter in 140 characters or less. Follow him @ScottSawitz .
