Having thought Megan Fox came across as a vacant, sluggish zombie in the first Transformers movie (I didn’t see the second), I’ve been less than thrilled at her casting in Jonah Hex; so I was understandably alarmed at this latest rumor (mercifully contradicted here) that Fox is going to be cast as the next Catwoman.
Catwoman meets Batman
But this comment from Tracy Saboe reminds me that some actors need a good director (and/or script) to show what they’re capable of. For example, I would never have thought that Natalie Portman was a good actress if I’d seen only her performances in the Star Wars movies, nor would I have been especially impressed by Liam Neeson; likewise, I would never have thought the Marx Brothers were all that funny if I’d seen only some of the late duds like Room Service. Also, check out the deleted scenes on the DVD of The Big Sleep to see Lauren Bacall (of all people) coming across as dull and lacklustre, until they reshot her scenes with more directorial guidance. And the clips I’ve seen of Fox’s performance in Jennifer’s Body, though fairly cheesy, at least manifest more liveliness than was apparent in Transformers, so maybe I should give her the benefit of the doubt.
Still … Catwoman?
I can’t imagine how dark Nolan’s Selina Kyle will be (perhaps a prostitute like in Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One). But I think Nolan has earned a certain amount of confidence at this point. He’s made five movies, four of which are now all-time greats — exception being The Prestige. His remake of Insomnia outdid the European original, which is unheard of in Hollywood. That’s one hell of a batting average. On the other hand, he did cast Katie Holmes (???) as Rachel Dawes.
Yes, it was only when I had Maggie Gyllenhaal’s performance as Rachel Dawes to compare to Katie Holmes’ that I realised how bad Holmes’ acting was in the first film.
I was talking more about how Holmes had been miscast. Holmes can do certain roles I’m sure, but not a prosecutor in the DA’s office.
Pauline Kael said that in order to make a great movie you need a perfect script, exactly the right actors, and a director who won’t screw anything up. In van Sant’s remake of Psycho, he had a perfect script, but the wrong actors, and he screwed it up by making it in colour, and changing Hitchcock’s shots as the movie went along (it was not a shot-for-shot remake). But it’s irrelevant I guess because the original was perfect, and it’s impossible to improve on perfection.
Imagine Mickey Rourke playing Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction, and John Travolta playing Marv in Sin City.
How about Kevin Costner as the Joker?
Thanks for acknowledging my comment.
I’m still trying to figure out how Howie Mandel got a reputation for being funny. Did he do something besides inflate rubber gloves on Trapper John, MD?
The Megan Fox rumors just came up because she’s considered particularly hot. Problem is, that’s the extent of her “talent”, being attractive, and to play a role like Catwoman you have to be way more than that (and of course have a script that makes sense; Halle Berry is both attractive & talented but her try at it still sucked).
Long as they’re doing comic book movies: Transmetropolitan? Please?
I don’t know whether it’s her fault or the director’s, but I was disappointed with Halle Berry’s performance as Ororo/Storm in the X-men movies; she didn’t convey the gravitas of that character. (It might have helped if she’d tried a bit of a Kenyan accent; I assume that the character, given her bio, would have some mix of American and Kenyan accents.)
Yeah, she clearly didn’t bother with the accent, though honestly most of the people that were going to see the movie didn’t care so I don’t blame them on that. As for gravitas, I assumed since it was such an ensemble cast she couldn’t chew as much scenery as a faithful portrayal of the character called for.
I’ve learned over the years to lower my expectations for most movies: if it serves its primary purpose without prompting groans, that’s enough. Film critics would do well to consider that position, based on some of the gripes I’ve seen about GI-Joe or the 2nd Transformers movie, for example (“The plot makes no sense!!” Well WTF were you expecting?). A movie where the plot actually matters is easy to spot, because it doesn’t advertise with lightning fast cut scenes of stuff exploding.
I will not be going to see GI Joe: It just doesn’t appeal. I enjoyed Transformers 2, just as you say: Sure, the plot didn’t make sense, but it was still fun (if too long).
Actually, Berry did utilize an accent (barely) for the first movie, but it was abandoned for the subsequent ones. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120903/faq#.2.1.5
Richard G.