Today on my way to work I was listening to one of my old friend's podcast on iTunes. The Longbox Sessions stars Joshua Griffey and Alex Dandino as two sweaty nerds who talk movies, comics, and all things geeky. Sometimes I think the guys can be a bit harsh on things of the pop culture nature, but in this week's podcast Griffey tried to be positive and mentioned a good performance in a "shitty" comic book movie. This stuck with me today and got me thinking about other good performances by good actors who just got the short end of the stick because of how the rest of the film went.
5) Kelsey Grammar as Hank McCoy/Beast in X3
The third film in the X-Men film franchise is by far one of the most horrific comic book films I can think of. Brett Ratner taking over directing for Bryan Singer almost ruined this billion dollar franchise. However, the casting of Frasier alumni, Kelsey Grammer, as the X-Men's resident scientist was quite entertaining. I'm glad Grammer got a second, though brief, chance to reprise his role in X-Men: Days of Future Past. And amen that Singer is back directing Marvel's Mighty Mutants!
4) Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko/Sandman in Spider-Man 3
Yes, we are all still traumatized by emo-Peter doing his silly shuffle down the sidewalks of New York, and the underrated treatment of Venom and the Black Costume Saga. But if the film would have just focused on one villain I think it would have been quite better. Church is a top notch actor with roles in films like Sideways and George of the Jungle(a favorite of mine), and he did a terrific job of bringing out the humanity in a character that could have come off as silly. One thing I especially enjoyed about Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy was making his villains relatable; like Flint Marko who was just trying to get money to help his sick daughter.
3) Mark Strong as Sinestro in Green Lantern
Reading a Green Lantern comic with Hal Jordan as the hero can be entertaining. But if Sinestro is right next to him the page will explode with excellence. Sinestro has always been the other side of the coin to Jordan. He's what Hal Jordan could be if he just stepped his toe over the fine line of justice. And Sinestro actually believes his way is the right way.
Mark Strong is now known for his roles in Sherlock Holmes and Kingsman: The Secret Service, and as Griffey pointed out on The Longbox Sessions he was the perfect casting for Sinestro. Like J.K. Simmons in Spider-Man, I would love to see this actor get another shot at this character, though I won't get my hopes up.
2) Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine
I don't know what Marvel and 20th Century Fox were thinking when they took a character who was known for telling jokes, and then get an actor to play that part who is also known for telling jokes, and then sew his mouth shut. The only watchable parts in this X-Men spinoff was Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. I could also debate Taylor Kitsch as Gambit, but that may be just my favoritism for Tim Riggins. Now, I'm not a big fan of Deadpool, but I am curious to see the new solo film coming out next year where Reynolds will return as the deadly assassin. I'd also love to see a reference to him being mistaken for Spider-Man like in the comics, but somehow I don't think that will fly with Sony and Marvel Studios.
1) Chris Evans as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
I'm only referencing the second FF film because I still enjoy watching the first one. It was pre-2008 when comic book movies were still trying to find their footing. Iron Man and The Dark Knight both came out in 2008 and changed how everyone thought about comic book/superhero films.
When Chris Evans was cast as Captain America I was very vocal about my disagreement. I thought Evan was the perfect Johnny Storm. It was like he was ripped right off of my comic pages. At the time I only knew Evans as comedic relief like in The Losers. But he proved me wrong and now I can't imagine Captain America being played by anyone else. But I still think he was an awesome Human Torch.
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