I have absolutely no intention of seeing the new Crow movie, but they did seem to cast an actor (Bill Skarsgard) who could probably pull it off. Unfortunately, judging by the trailer…and the reviews, he looks pretty bland. I’ve been thinking of making a post about this, so here it is.
To clarify, this is not about the actors’ being wasted by being in a bad movie, but rather having their style wasted. Cast in very fitting roles, but due to poor direction, lack of screentime, or a bad interpretation of the character, their performance is disappointing in itself.
14. JIM CARREY as THE RIDDLER
Batman Forever (1995)
As I said before, Jim Carrey has a baseline hamminess that is quite amusing, but he often crosses the line into insufferability. There are times in which he fits like a glove in the role of the psychopathic Edward Nygma, but he’ll often go too far when trying to be funny, sometimes right in the middle of a sentence. It's not a complete waste but there's negative value to parts of his performance.
13. BOLAJI BADEJO as THE DRONE
Alien (1979)
This seems like a strange choice, but I think it’s appropriate. I generally agree with the conventional wisdom that less is more when showing a monster (especially where Wampas are concerned), but I honestly think it’s a shame that something like this screen-test wasn’t included in the movie. It’s subtle enough, and Badejo’s body language is simultaneously graceful and unsettling. It’s also strange that there are no shots that effectively take advantage of Badejo’s lanky 6’10” frame; they could have put anyone in that suit with what they kept.
I suppose I’d give an honorable mention to Wilt Chamberlain and Andre the Giant in Conan the Destroyer for a similar reason, though they don’t make the list because their acting ability may have been moot. They cast two athletes for the specific reason that they tower over Arnold, but there’s not a single shot in the actual movie that conveys the height difference as well as this photo of them just chilling on the set. Hell, the final fight with Dagoth is shot like it was Tom Hardy inside that rubber suit.
12. CHRISTOPHER WALKEN as EMPEROR SHADDAM IV
Dune, Pt. 2 (2024)
Aside from some mild grumpiness, he seems underwhelming, and the lack of screen-time does not help. Then again, it was a trend that these new Dune movies neglected the supporting characters to the extent that Kangaroo Jack made better use of Christopher Walken.
11. DAVID DASTMALCHIAN as PITER DE VRIES
Dune, Pt. 1 (2021)
Despite being a psychopath in the source material, Piter is depicted as a straight man here Dastmalchian holds his own in spite of this, but he can only do so much when he’s barely in the movie. It also raises the question of why they’d cast such a greasy-haired goonie when if they’re going to turn him into an anonymous cueball.
Remember, kids: It’s always better to look like Cezare than Orlok.
10. ROBERT PATTINSON as BATMAN
The Batman (2022)
Having seen Pattinson’s charisma in at least one other movie, I was disappointed to see a mopey one-note parody of an angsty Batman. And here I was thinking he was trying to distance himself from Twilight! Despite my reaction, it seems that a lot of others were pleasantly surprised by him. I guess the Batman casting spell adjusts to individual subjectivity…
9. JARED LETO as THE JOKER
Suicide Squad (2016)
Yes, the Batman Casting Spell: the casting always seems to go the opposite of how you’d expect. Michael Keaton, Heath Ledger, and Ben Affleck all worked surprisingly well…and then there’s Jared Leto. I thought he would be great, but his own personal interpretation of the character ended up being a bit…off. They should have reined him in.
8. JOHN BOYEGA as FINN
The Star Wars Sequels (2015, 2017, 2019)
Boyega is a solid actor, but as many have complained, his character was reduced to a border-line minstrel role who shows little empathy towards his former stormtrooper comrades
. He should have been the Jedi, but everybody says that. It’s even more frustrating because they actually used this as misdirection in the promotional material.
7. TOMMY LEE JONES as TWO-FACE
Batman Forever (1995)
Despite the offense of not letting Billy Dee Williams return, Jones is perfect for the tragic character of Harvey Dent. Unfortunately, Harvey is not so tragic in this movie. At least Tommy looks like he’s having fun. It also gave us the best on-set takedown this side of Laurence Olivier.
6. AUSTIN BUTLER as FEYD-RAUTHA
Dune, Pt. 2 (2024)
After killing a tragic role as Elvis, Butler is then cast as an over-simplified version of Feyd-Rautha in Dune. He has fun, but it’s a one-note crazy person performance that I imagine anyone could pull off. At least we got some amusing gif memes out it.
5. KEVIN CONROY as BATMAN (EARTH-99)
Batwoman, 2019
I’d want to avoid the typical complaints about some quasi-feminist deconstruction of traditional heroism, but it seemed like a betrayal that Kevin Conroy, the definitive voice of Batman, finally got a live-action role only to be turned into a cynical, nihilistic, and villainous parody of the Dark Knight.
3. ROGER ALLAM as ILLYRIO MOPATIS
Game of Thrones (2011)
Originally the role was going to played by Ian McNeice (an even better casting choice), but that fell through, and they cast Allam instead. Appearances aside, Allam is actually very fun in roles like this. Unfortunately, he must not have liked being involved with the series, because he spends most of the time looking as if he’d rather be somewhere else and is conspicuously absent after first few episodes.
TYRION: Where am I?
VARYS: You are in Pentos, in the house of Illyrio Mopatis
TYRION: Ok where is he?
VARYS: I don’t know.
2. BRENT SPINER as THE JOKER
Young Justice (2011)
Joker is definitely a voice role that I know Brent Spiner can do well, but good night it's like a horribly-fandubbed Hazbin character. Not only is his voice acting flat, it doesn’t even sound like it’s coming from the character on the screen.
1. ANDY SERKIS as ULYSSES KLAUE
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Black Panther (2018)
So let me get this straight. you got a character from the comics who is transformed into this strange humanoid manifestation of living sound, you cast a guy most known for his mastery of motion-capture acting, and then you kill the character off without ever having him transform into living sound? Perhaps this is because Serkis is trying to distance himself from this now that motion-capture is standardized and he wants more serious roles, like MCU movies and Batman. I’ve heard he’s good in Andor, but I think this new direction is a bit bland and I miss weird old Andy Serkis.
I might add more if I forgot any
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