Has Christian Bale Lost Steam?

[Catman]

Throughout most of this decade, Christian Bale was one of the most fascinating actors in movies. Yet recently he seems to have lost some steam. First, he gets over-shadowed by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. Then, he gets over-shadowed again in Terminator Salvation by that Sam Worthington guy. Did I spell his name correctly? And his next movie is with Johnny Depp, arguably the best actor of the past 20 years. In other words...he's likely to get over-shadowed AGAIN.

Remember when Bale was the most talked about aspect of a movie. He's now gonna go three straight movies where he's not. wow. He had a good run.

 

[MadVillainy]

Well he was just in the biggest movie of the year last year....
so...no I dont think hes lost steam

And you better hide. Saying anything bad about Bale might get you killed and/or raped

 

[Kane52630]

*loads gun*
jk lol

 

[byte19]

funny... thought he was overshadowed in reign of fire.... sometimes he disappears in his roles... if you're talking about how awesome his co-stars are opposite him... he's done his real job I think....

oh yea... die catman!!

 

[Catman]

he was just in the biggest movie of the year last year....

I'm not talking about the movies. I'm talking about him as an actor. It used to be, "oh did you see how awesome Bale was?" and now it's "oh did you see how awesome that other person was?"

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Well he was just in the biggest movie of the year last year....
so...no I dont think hes lost steam

And you better hide. Saying anything bad about Bale might get you killed and/or raped

lol

To answer the question...

No he hasn't. People are just overreacting because Terminator-Please stop making these f**king films hollywood-Salvation wasn't some big hit in the states. I know you say the thread is about him being overshadowed but frankly I don't really believe you.

Bale will still get tons of work and still be praised by the easily impressed "I like dour badasses" fanboys no matter how well he actually does in any given film.

Same goes for some of the petty critics who undoubtedly tossed him under the bus because of the rant and the ridiculous hype surrounding him.

P.S:

I didn't think that his performance in TS was all that special but it wasn't the worse thing in the universe. Still, wish he would've cared more.

 

[Catman]

I don't know, man. Bale has been kinda criticized lately. First people complained that they couldn't understand a word he said in Dark Knight. I think that's an exaggeration. I understood him. But it's what people say. Then, in Terminator people complained that he was more Batman than John Connor.

This may not be fanboy complains, obviously, but it's what the general public has been saying. So, he better be awesome in Public Enemies or else the general public may stop caring about him.

 

[Project862006]

he is not good in ensemble roles i even thought Hugh and bale were even in acting in the prestige

 

[Catman]

he is not good in ensemble roles

In other words, he's not good when he has to share the spotlight?

 

[byte19]

wha??? then his role in I'm Not There must have sucked so hard!!! looking forward to seeing it on the sat. this month....

 

[Max J Power]

I'd add "3:10 To Yuma" to the list of things he got overshadowed in.

For a couple years now, I've felt like Bale is a pretty big typecast. He's a good actor, but he's never the best actor or most memorable part of the movies he's in. And in light of that, I could stand to see him in fewer movies.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I don't know, man. Bale has been kinda criticized lately. First people complained that they couldn't understand a word he said in Dark Knight. I think that's an exaggeration. I understood him. But it's what people say. Then, in Terminator people complained that he was more Batman than John Connor.

This may not be fanboy complains, obviously, but it's what the general public has been saying. So, he better be awesome in Public Enemies or else the general public may stop caring about him.

Count me as one of those who hates his Bat-voice and didn't understand him all the time in TDK.

Here's the deal, I don't think that the general public ever loved him as much as the fanboys did so I don't see him falling far because he was never for even a second a Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp or a Tom Hanks.

What alot of the fanboys failed to realize is he is just another actor in a long line of actors who have played Batman/ a Superhero.

He aint that special to the public, no matter what you think of him as an actor.

 

[Catman]

What alot of the fanboys failed to realize is he is just another actor in a long line of actors who have played Batman/ a Superhero.

Bale was popular with fanboys even before he actually got cast as Batman. They've been obsessed with him ever since Equilibrium in 2002.

 

[Motown Marvel]

i never found him any more fascinating than any other solid actor.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Bale was popular with fanboys even before he actually got cast as Batman. They've been obsessed with him ever since Equilibrium in 2002.

I've been on here for nearly 6 years, believe me, I know.

I was glad when he was cast as Batman but I personally have been disappointed with his performances in the flicks. I know, I know, most disagree with me. But those are my feelings on that subject.

I think that he has lost steam with the fanboys a little bit (the ridiclous hyperbole surrounding him hurt matters) but not with the average moviegoer cause...


HE WASN'T EVER THAT POPULAR TO BEING WITH!

 

[Legion]

He isn't being over shadowed though. He is being paired with high caliber actors. For someone who is pretty new to big hollywood movies, that should be a compliment more than anything.

In TDK The Joker was purposely built up as the ultimate villain. People were excited to see a darker, more sadistic take on the already iconic character. The Joker appeared on more posters and probably has more merchandise. TDK simply made the Joker overwhelming to Batman. And that's the point...you can't have a good hero without a great villain. He was meant to be second to Ledger's Joker.

In Terminator Salvation he chose to play John Connor instead of Marcus Wright. It seemsed alittle out of character for him to choose the least interesting of the two, but it was probably necessary to spark audience interest. Again with this movie, he chose to play a character we already know everything about...so he isn't as interesting as we'd like and Connor's role was supposed to be very small until it was expanded for Bale. Still it was very surreal for me to see my current favorite actor up against an icon from my childhood.

 

[Kane52630]

ive never heard of Bale until Batman Begins, then i got to see alot of his films

 

[BatMatt]

It seems he'd prefer to be over shadowed anyway, at least in blockbuster films. I bet he'd rather here "You were awesome in American Psycho/The Machinest/Rescue Dawn" than "Batman Begins/The Dark Knight/Terminator." He admittedly does the big time movies for the check so he can focus on the smaller budget films he prefers but still support his family.

 

[[A]]

First, he gets over-shadowed by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

Batman was not meant to be the biggest character in that movie..

Well he was just in the biggest movie of the year last year....
so...no I dont think hes lost steam

Yeah, he's not a movie star (in the sense of you see Bale's name --> you go to see that movie

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

There is nothing wrong with him not being a movie star. He doesn't want to be a movie star, so no big deal.

 

[AndThePickles]

*shrugs* I've never been a Bale fan, in the first place.

 

[Catman]

he chose to play a character we already know everything about...

And you're saying we didn't know everything about Batman? The fact is that Bale wasn't memorable in Terminator because he didn't do anything special. He just shouted for two hours. As opposed to Sam Worthington who brought a little more to his role.

 

[Cain]

I was glad when he was cast as Batman but I personally have been disappointed with his performances in the flicks. I know, I know, most disagree with me. But those are my feelings on that subject.

co-sign

 

[Gracen1]

I'd add "3:10 To Yuma" to the list of things he got overshadowed in.

For a couple years now, I've felt like Bale is a pretty big typecast. He's a good actor, but he's never the best actor or most memorable part of the movies he's in. And in light of that, I could stand to see him in fewer movies.

i agree. he couldn't hold his own next to crowe. he was upstaged. whenever they had scenes together, the camera just loved russel more. i always look at the scenes between denzel and gene hackman in crimson tide. they fed off each other so well, i though the camera was going to split in half. their performances were so great, they could've each used their own camera. same with gene and dustin in runaway jury when they had that awesome conversation in the restroom. same with pacino and deniro in heat. like 2 gods doing battle. i love it when 2 great actors bring their absolute best and neither backs down to the others greatness. back to bale. he's good, but not on that level where he can hold his own against the real greats.

 

[The Riddler]

bale is being overshadowed because of the roles he chooses in these films. he was offered the meatier role of marcus but wanted conner. he plays purvis in public enemies which is a rather boring, straight character. he plays batman who is the star, but that isn't the most flamboyant or eye catching role in tdk. in 3:10 to yuma, again he's the straight shooter against the more charismatic villain.

his best role, and probably the only role i ever was blown away by of his, was in american psycho. the range, from emotionless, to madness, to pure joy, to smugness, to frustration; the role had everything.

i think bale is a great actor but his recent work and character choices have been rather "standard" and easily overlooked.