Has Christian Bale Lost Steam?

[dude stannis]

Holy ****, Steve Martin is playing Bale!

 

[Laderlappen]

Dillinger is a better character than Melvin Purvis, and The Joker is a better character than batman. He SHOULD be overshadowed.

 

[-JKR-]

I really don't think he was overshadowed. Watching The Dark Knight doesn't make me feel like "oh noes, he's overshadowed". He played his character (perfectly), and Heath Ledger played his character. Difference is - The Joker is naturally more flamboyant.

Watching Terminator Salvation I didn't think for one second that Sam Worthington was better than Christian Bale, but that he simply had the meatier role (and that's because John Connor wasn't even supposed to have this big of a role in the flick).

Now, what's getting on my nerves lately is all the Bale bashing and talk about how his "co-stars are always better than him". Now gimme a break.

 

[dude stannis]

and The Joker is a better character than batman. He SHOULD be overshadowed.

Not necessarily. If a younger Liam Neeson played Batman the way he played Bryan Mills in Taken, he would not have been overshadowed.

 

[Sarge 2.0]

Is everyone forgetting that in 2007 he did some of his most dynamic and compelling work to date in I'm Not There and Rescue Dawn?

Just because Ledgers performance received more publicity and coverage than his doesn't mean he was "overshadowed". And he was rightfully overshadowed in TS because he gave a bad performance. And whoever said he only plays dour badasses clearly hasn't seen very many of his movies. Or maybe they're just talking out of their asses because they haven't seen Rescue Dawn, or I'm Not There, or The New World, or Velvet Goldmine or the Prestige.

 

[super85]

I think he is perfect as Bruce Wayne in the Batman films, especially in Batman Begins were his role is bigger. And like pointed out,his performances are very good in Rescue Down, I'm Not There. I think he is solid in both The Dark Knight and Terminator Salvation, but those performances aren't his best.


I'd watch Christian Bale anyday over Tom Hanks or Will Smith..in any film basicly, those two guys bore me to tears for the most part.

 

[-JKR-]

I still think he was brilliant in The Dark Knight. Such an underrated performance.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

I thought his performance in TDK was inconsistent.

I loved some parts of it. Like his cheeky little grins to Lucious and Alfred, they seemed really...errr...real and warm, like he really was great friends with these guys And the interrogation scene. Obviously Ledger gets all the attention for that scene, but Bale was great in it as well. The slow realization on his face that what Joker was saying was probably true, then when he snaps all that rage seemed very believable to me.

But there was some scenes where he seemed, I dunno, uninterested?

 

[-JKR-]

I really think that was part of the character. He had a "sleepy quality" in some of the scenes, which only added to the "tragedy" of this character. Let's be honest. That's what Bruce Wayne's arc was all about in The Dark Knight. He was tired, and would've prefered to live a normal life together with Rachel. The Joker pushed him to the limits and in the end he realized that he had to endure, just like Alfred told him.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

Good point.

 

[Schlosser85]

Between The Dark Knight, Terminator Salvation, and Public Enemies, I have a pretty hard time believing Christian Bale is "losing steam".

I do agree he's overrated as some kind of God among men by a lot of people on these boards, but I think he's a solid, reliable actor who has become a bit typecast as the dour hardass...but it's because he plays it very well, IMO. Morgan Freeman has been typecast forever as the wise mentor figure, I don't see anyone criticizing him for it.

I think some of the Bale worship is a little over-the-top, but I think this kind of "Christian Bale is out of steam, his career is over, no one likes him at all!" backlash is pretty over-the-top.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

Yea Freeman always plays the same character really. And he even always does that wave thing when he walks away from someone. But yea no one complains about that.

 

[MadVillainy]

I'm surprised this thread has gone on for so long without any death threats

 

[Cain]

I just don't understand why he wanted a less interesting role in Salvation? I'm partly thankful he got the script changed because that orginal script was just a total rape of the franchise and deserved to be burned but still...

It's not like what ended up on screen was any better.

 

[Cain]

I'm surprised this thread has gone on for so long without any death threats

somebody shot a poison tipped arrow that read "Bale owns my soul" through my window this morning luckily I had to tie my shoelace so I ducked and missed it right on time.

 

[Wiseman]

Bale does fine as Bruce Wayne, and if he didn't sound like a moron when he's talking as Batman and Heath never died, he might not have been considered over-shadowed. TS, well as far as I'm concerned the movie was crap and Bale realized that after the first month on the set and so I just call that movie "Paycheck" for him. Public Enemies, he has to play it straight, Depp gets to go all out. I'm sure if the roles were reversed Bale would do just as good of a job as Depp. 3:10 to Yuma was the same thing, Crowe got to play the bad guy and Bale had to play it straight. He's still a great actor who's career isn't going anywhere. I liked him before he was an icon to geeks and I'll continue to like him throughout the rest of his career.

 

[Scarlet Spider]

I just don't understand why he wanted a less interesting role in Salvation? I'm partly thankful he got the script changed because that orginal script was just a total rape of the franchise and deserved to be burned but still...

Bale wanted the role because of John Connor's significance to the mythology. I can't really blame him. As cool as it would be to play a Terminator, Connor is the more iconic role.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

This thread is ridiculously over-the-top, Catman...

Christian Bale has not lost steam in any sense whatsoever.

 

[블라스]

Another thread I hate.
He hasn't lost any steam, he'e a fantastic actor.
It's just that he's been getting really popular, so of course there's people who are going to say he's overrated or overshadowed by his stars or whatever.
Which is BS.

 

[SWAT]

I will continue do watch his movies... I think he's great. Hopefully they'll make an sequel to Salvation. A movie all about Connor.

About Bale being over shadowed by Crowe in 3:10... They were both over shadowed by Ben Foster. Charlie Prince was a ****ing badass.

 

[Bim]

I think some of the Bale worship is a little over-the-top, but I think this kind of "Christian Bale is out of steam, his career is over, no one likes him at all!" backlash is pretty over-the-top.

Agreed

I think he's a wonderful actor and just because he picks the more under the radar roles at times doesnt mean he's losing steam. If those are the characters he wants to play, more power to him for going with what he wants, rather than going with what people want him or think he should play.

 

[The Sage]

Gonna throw my hat in with those who say Bale's been phoning it in mostly with movies such as the Dark Knight and Terminator Salvation. He's good but I haven't seen anything he's done that's jumped out at me since The Prestige, though I thought he was really good in Harsh Times and Rescue Dawn.

 

[goh78]

What a stupid thread. Should be titled

"Am I just now realizing I've put Christian Bale on a pedestal, and my massive fanboy expectations aren't met 100%, when, in reality, Bale is a great actor and I'm never satisfied?"

 

[Cain]

The Christian Bale Defense Force is now here in full effect.

 

[goh78]

The Christian Bale Defense Force is now here in full effect.

Nah, just don't understand the Bale obsession and why he has to blow fanboys away with every role. I mean, the same ones who praise Ledger's Joker as the second coming are surprised and complain that Bale gets overshadowed. Doesn't make much sense to me.