‘I’m a soldier of the apocalypse, man!’
Mr Bale’s been in the news a bit recently (you’ve probably noticed) and he’s also been making regular appearances on my DVD player this week as a warm up to seeing The Dark Knight at the IMAX cinema in Birmingham this coming Saturday
Equilibrium
This Orwellian tale is a better film that it probably has a right to be. Essentially 1984 done as an action movie, it benefits from a great cast, particularly Christian Bale, and some good action sequences. The Gun Fu idea manages to be both silly and incredibly cool at the same time and is about the films only original idea. To see what Equilibrium would have been like without Bale check out director Kurt Wimmer’s follow-up Ultraviolet.
The Machinist
How far should an actor go in pursuit of authentisity? Christian Bale goes above and beyond the call of duty in Brad Anderson’s film about an insomniac machine operator, to the point where you start to worry about his health. Bale, all skin and bones, gives a typically intense performance in this surreal story that avoids categorisation, being part drama, part thriller, part horror. It’s an excellent film that feels like something David Cronenberg might have dreamed up, which is high praise indeed.
Harsh Times
The military takes young men, trains them how to kill, puts them through things that leave them traumatised and unable to deal with life in the ‘real’ world and the lets them loose on that world – that’s the premise behind David Ayer’s directorial debut. The ex-Army Ranger is played by Christian Bale and he gives another first rate performance, showing the inner turmoil of a character who misses the order of military existence and finds himself pulled into a life of drugs and violence when his application is turned down by the LAPD . Playing his best friend, Freddy Rodríguez is an excellent foil for Bale, adding a touch of humour and likability to an otherwise pretty bleak film. Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria Parker isn’t required to do much more than look pretty and gripe at Rodríguez for not getting a job but she’s more than capable of both tasks.
The New World
Terrence Malick’s take on the Pocahontas story is certainly sumptuous to look at but it failed to grip me as it should. This may be sacrilegious but I’ve never been a big Malick fan, I’ve always felt his reputation was far greater than his body of work warranted, it’s almost like his lack of output is what convinces people he must be a great filmmaker. But my main gripe with The New World isn’t Malick’s direction, although the lethargic pace doesn’t help the film, no it’s with the film’s star Colin Farrell. Now I’ve enjoyed more than a few of Farrell’s films but his mumbling performance here was so irritating I developed an instant dislike to the character (not that he’s particularly likable anyway). As he’s one of the few people that are really developed in the film (that lack of characters being another of the films problems, and an inexcusable one given its length) it’s no wonder the film failed to engage me. Q’orianka Kilcher as Pocahontas is remarkably good for such an inexperienced actress and Christian Bale does a good job given the small amount of screen time he gets, making John Rolfe far more endearing than Farrell’s Captain Smith, to the extent that it’s hard to accept the attraction of the mumbling Irishman.
The Prestige
I actually found The Prestige far more enjoyable second time around, without the weight of Christopher Nolan’s cinematic slight of hand to divert my attention. It’s got three (or should that be five?) first rate performances from Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Michael Caine, it’s got humour, it’s got tragedy and it’s got a gorgeous period setting. It’s also got David Bowie doing a funny accent but even that odd bit of casting doesn’t spoil the film. Hopefully Nolan will continue to make films like this in-between Batman movies, it would be a shame to see his talent tied too closely to the Dark Knight as Sam Raimi has been with Spider-Man.
