Here we go again. We nerds and geeks are a passionate people. We have strong opinions and we are not afraid to voice them. It's seems our knee jerk reactions to most things is negativity. A casting announcement is made regarding our beloved characters and the first thing we want to do is tear them down to the ground. It's especially bad if the person that is cast has burned us before. That seems to be the issue with the recent news that multiple Academy Award winner, Ben Affleck, has been cast in the "Batman/Superman" sequel to "Man of Steel."
People are pissed. They are pissed to a ridiculous level. People have started a petition to stop him from playing Batman. There are ridiculous tweets and memes flying around. Like I said, this is not the first time that this has happened and it certainly won't be the last. Everyone agrees that Heath Ledger's turn as The Joker in "The Dark Knight" is probably the best performance in a superhero movie ever, but it seems like people have selective memory. The website, Newsarama, was quick to jog people's memories about the initial fan reaction to Ledger's casting. We all know how that turned out, so who's to say that people won't be wrong about Affleck. After the jump, here are some reasons why I'm betting on Ben Affleck.
1. I don't really like Ben Affleck. When I hear that Ben Affleck is starring in a movie, it is not a sign that I am going to run out and go see it. We can list the bombs that Ben was in during the infamous Bennifer era. We all remember "Gigli" and "Jersey Girl," but there was also "Daredevil" (more on that in a bit), "Paycheck" and "Surviving Christmas." He had a string of bombs and it seemed like his career was headed into Demi Moore territory, but then...
2. He got on a roll. In the past few years, Ben has been bringing his "A" game and has worked his way back on to the "A" list. It started with his turn as television's original Superman, George Reeves, in "Hollywoodland." He followed that up with roles in small films like "Extract" and "The Company Men." Then, he directed his brother in "Gone Baby Gone." He directed and starred in "The Town" and "Argo," the latter winning Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards. A pretty impressive pedigree, no?
3. Daredevil was 10 years ago. Everyone likes to point to "Daredevil" as the reason why Affleck shouldn't play Bamtan. This was ten years ago, y'all. Ever actor has made a flop. Even Meryl Streep has some movies that she's made that she isn't proud of. Does "She-Devil" ring any bells? Just because you were in one bad superhero movie, doesn't mean you should be banned from them for life. If we used this logic, Chris Evans wouldn't be playing Captain America right now. If anyone should be blamed for "Daredevil"'s massive belly flop it should be director Mark Steven Johnson. I mean, this is the same dude who made "Ghost Rider" for Christ's sake. Don't believe me? Check this out.
4. Not one frame of film has been shot yet. I know this is tough for fanboys, myself included, to grasp, but shouldn't we reserve judgement until we have seen some actual footage? I mean, Affleck in the costume, at least. Affleck could be the best Batman we have ever seen. He could prove all of us wrong and win an Oscar ala Heath Ledger. We don't know. Heck, I was prepared to hate "Man of Steel" based on Zack Snyder's direction alone, and you know what, I didn't. Shouldn't we give Ben the benefit of the doubt, for now.
So, what was your initial reaction to the casting news? Has it changed since then? Do I make valid points or am I crazy? Hit me up in the comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment