Has Christian Bale Lost Steam?

[Infinity9999x]

I never said it was the only reason, Heath gave an amazing performance worthy of the Oscar he received. But his death did put his name in the headlines. Truth.
People who had never seen Heath Ledger act then knew who he was and knew he was the new Joker. Because of his death, he is held in a very high regard, and there is an unspoken rule here that you can not give negative criticism of his performance.
Again, I am not taking anything away from Ledger's performance, it was epic. At the same time, if you think the death of an iconic actor and the buzz around his final film didn't help it become the 2nd highest grossing film of all time, take off you blinders and stop being so PC. Facts are facts.

Don't want to derail the thread much more here, but...(real quick)

I don't disagree with that. I was reading your original comment as implying that the only reason Heath got headlines was because he died. He definitely did get lots of extra attention because he died. There's no way to argue that. However, I do think he would have gotten tons of publicity simply because he was playing the Joker, but no, not as much as he ended up getting after he died.

 

[TheRunningMan]

I dont think people appreciate bale's performance enough. you can hardly tell that wayne and batman are the same guy!!

 

[Johnny Drama]

It was an underrated performance.
My beef with the Bale haters is yhat many on this board will go and say "He wasn't big enough, he wasn't jacked" but when you ask them who their favorite Batman was, it's always "Michael Keaton"

Can someone please tell me how that makes sense?

 

[TheRunningMan]

michael keaton wasnt even tall. the female love interest, I forgot her name, had to film scenes barefoot when standing next to keaton to make him look taller. I mean, I love keaton's batman too, but christian bale is by far the best.

 

[Prison Mike]

That.... is genius.

Genius it is!

 

[dude stannis]

It was an underrated performance.
My beef with the Bale haters is yhat many on this board will go and say "He wasn't big enough, he wasn't jacked" but when you ask them who their favorite Batman was, it's always "Michael Keaton"

Can someone please tell me how that makes sense?

Now that's just silly. Bale is without a doubt as physically close to what an actor playing Batman should look like as possible. Michael Keaton is only better because he wasn't sleepwalking through his movies.

 

[Johnny Drama]

Now that's just silly. Bale is without a doubt as physically close to what an actor playing Batman should look like as possible. Michael Keaton is only better because he wasn't sleepwalking through his movies.

Are you saying Michael Keaton played Bruce better than Bale?

And you use Keatons, stiff, emotionless, monotone performance as an example?
Please...

 

[Johnny Drama]

Genius it is!

I heard the guy that made that poster is a god in the sack

 

[The Guard]

No, I don't think he's lost steam.

I think he's never been quite as good as some people seem to think he is, and him having a few less than stellar movies have challenged their original beliefs about his talent.

I've seen almost everything he's done, save for MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS. Christian Bale is fun to watch, and he's usually consistently good, but he really doesn't have much range. He can whisper, or he can shout and be crazy, and he can sound sort of sincere, but he generally has little chemistry with leading ladies or men. He's good with accents, but you can always hear his own subtle "surfer" accent in there, and accents aren't range in themselves.

His most recent performances haven't been that impressive. He was less than stellar in THE DARK KNIGHT. His voice was modulated because he couldn't maintain a consistent Batman voice in BEGINS, and the result was often silly. He was very inconsistent in TERMINATOR: SALVATION. But the fact is, he wasn't exactly great in many of his other "key roles", he was just entertaining.

At this point, I feel his only truly great performances have been EMPIRE OF THE SUN and AMERICAN PSYCHO. The rest have been good to very good. He was pretty good in THE PRESTIGE and HARSH TIMES, but frankly, you always know what you're going to get from Bale: Bale with some kind of accent. It has been this way since his career began, be it VELVET GOLDMINE, or any other early film. And it's unfortunate that studios keep marketing him and presenting him that way. He doesn't lack charisma, he lacks range. I don't think he ever phones it in, I think he's just set on his style of performance. I'd very much like to see him with a dye job, some contacts, some more facial hair, etc, stepping outside his measured style.

He's a very good actor. He's not great yet.

 

[knockout]

He is losing steam for me. His acting and voice are all the same. He brings nothing new and his looks these days is not so hot anymore and he looks a bit unhappy.JMHO.
And quite frankly his temper is a real turn off.

 

[dude stannis]

Are you saying Michael Keaton played Bruce better than Bale?

And you use Keatons, stiff, emotionless, monotone performance as an example?
Please...

You've just described Bale's last two performances to a tee.

 

[Johnny Drama]

You've just described Keaton's last two performances to a tee.

Yes, thank you for finally admitting that. B89 and Batman Returns could have done without Keaton. A young Alec Baldwin would have owned that role, especially since he was a favorite of Burtons.

 

[Sawyer]

Genius it is!

And, let me guess, 95% of Rogen's jokes will be about him being jewish.

 

[dude stannis]

Yes, thank you for finally admitting that. B89 and Batman Returns could have done without Keaton. A young Alec Baldwin would have owned that role, especially since he was a favorite of Burtons.

Uhm no. Keaton had something called a personality, which is why he was a great Bruce and Batman.

Hmm, given the completely condescending manner in which you're posting, I'm going to write you off as a run of the mill TDK fanboi. Post something compelling and I'll change my mind.

 

[The Guard]

So what we've learned here is that Michael Keaton still overshadows Christian Bale.

 

[Infinity9999x]

Oy Vey guys, let's not turn this into a Bale vs. Keaton thing.

I like both of their performances, but I also think both of those performances could be improved.

In regards to the topic, I more or less agree with Guard. I've always thought Bale was a good actor, but not great, like some have.

 

[Wiseman]

Oy Vey guys, let's not turn this into a Bale vs. Keaton thing.

I like both of their performances, but I also think both of those performances could be improved.

I agree, after all, neither of them are as good as George Clooney anyway.

 

[The Riddler]

No, I don't think he's lost steam.

I think he's never been quite as good as some people seem to think he is, and him having a few less than stellar movies have challenged their original beliefs about his talent.

I've seen almost everything he's done, save for MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS. Christian Bale is fun to watch, and he's usually consistently good, but he really doesn't have much range. He can whisper, or he can shout and be crazy, and he can sound sort of sincere, but he generally has little chemistry with leading ladies or men. He's good with accents, but you can always hear his own subtle "surfer" accent in there, and accents aren't range in themselves.

His most recent performances haven't been that impressive. He was less than stellar in THE DARK KNIGHT. His voice was modulated because he couldn't maintain a consistent Batman voice in BEGINS, and the result was often silly. He was very inconsistent in TERMINATOR: SALVATION. But the fact is, he wasn't exactly great in many of his other "key roles", he was just entertaining.

At this point, I feel his only truly great performances have been EMPIRE OF THE SUN and AMERICAN PSYCHO. The rest have been good to very good. He was pretty good in THE PRESTIGE and HARSH TIMES, but frankly, you always know what you're going to get from Bale: Bale with some kind of accent. It has been this way since his career began, be it VELVET GOLDMINE, or any other early film. And it's unfortunate that studios keep marketing him and presenting him that way. He doesn't lack charisma, he lacks range. I don't think he ever phones it in, I think he's just set on his style of performance. I'd very much like to see him with a dye job, some contacts, some more facial hair, etc, stepping outside his measured style.

He's a very good actor. He's not great yet.

american psycho showed me he has range. it's just his most recent work involves fairly standard character choices and are rather boring or at least less engaging.

 

[stargazer]

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.

I think you've got a point... Karma?

I used to like him more, but his recent outbursts let me down a lot. The guy needs to learn to control his temper... Plus his batman didn't impress me, thought he was ok. Oh, but I liked him a lot in "The Prestige" and in "The New World".

Overall, he is a very good actor, but there are better ones than him, easily.

 

[The Shape]

Uhm no. Keaton had something called a personality, which is why he was a great Bruce and Batman.

Hmm, given the completely condescending manner in which you're posting, I'm going to write you off as a run of the mill TDK fanboi. Post something compelling and I'll change my mind.

Yeah, because turning Bruce Wayne into a bumbling idiot and Batman into a calm dude that just whispers a lot really shows personality.

Please, both Keaton and Bale played different variations of the character(s) which are both valid within their contexts. There's no need to put down Bale just because you have some weird thing against TDK and its fanbase...

And the fact that you actually typed "fanboi" makes it hard to take you seriously.

 

[Etienne]

Catman should stop starting threads that don't have to do with Katy Perry.

 

[dude stannis]

Yeah, because turning Bruce Wayne into a bumbling idiot and Batman into a calm dude that just whispers a lot really shows personality.

Better than bored as hell Bale in TDK. IMO of course.

Please, both Keaton and Bale played different variations of the character(s) which are both valid within their contexts. There's no need to put down Bale just because you have some weird thing against TDK and its fanbase...

Correct on the first part. But only for Bale's performance in Batman Begins. I simply didn't like him in TDK. I'm not putting down Bale because of the fanbase, I like TDK, I'm putting down Bale because of his weak and boring performances in his last two movies, it's the other guy that took it personally.

And the fact that you actually typed "fanboi" makes it hard to take you seriously.

Jeez, you're doing some Reed Richards amounts reaching here.

 

[cerealkiller182]

I was so excited for Bale as Batman because he was my top choice leading up to the decision (which really shocked me cause that crap doesnt happen often). I think that since Batman Begins though Bale has had higher profile roles with less characterization. His characters have had such a high degree of stoicism. American Psycho, Equilibrium, and The Machinist had a lot more meat to the characters and even though there was a level of stoicism in those characters at times, they were still much more nuanced than his roles lately. I think his role in The Fighter (Im from the city the movie takes place in, Ecklund is quite a character) will allow us to see something different, or at least better, than usual.

EDIT: He did damn well in The Prestige too, which was after Batman, and there was a cool balance of nuance and theatricality. In general I think my argument holds up though

 

[Etienne]

Overall, he is a very good actor, but there are better ones than him, easily.

Blasphemy! Name one who's name isn't Brandon Routh.

I kid I kid.

 

[bullets]

he did a fine job in 3:10 to yuma as well. he might have lost some people with his rant but he is still a good actor.