Summary
Wrestlers have been turning up in movies for decades, though few have made it past being stuntpeople or muscle roles. Roddy Piper had a classic turn inThey Livebefore going direct to video. Hulk Hogan earned his ‘Hollywood’ title by appearing in movies best left unseen. Then, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson earned his leading man status in popcorn flicks that are charming, though few are bonafide classics.
The Rock was the best actor-turned-wrestler by default for years untilDave Bautistacame along. Formerly known as Batista in the WWE, he made a slow climb up the cinematic ladder from DTV flicks. But he’s since appeared in a variety of movies, from pop culture blockbusters to dramas for cinephiles. If viewers want to see the best of ‘The Animal’ on-screen, they should check out thesegreat Dave Bautista performances.
8The Warriors Gate
Bautista Steals The Show As A Barbarian King
Made as a Franco-Chinese co-production shot largely in Canada,The Warriors Gateisn’t exactly must-see cinema. It’s about a boy who comes across an heirloom known as the Warriors Gate, which turns out to be a portal to an ancient Chinese-based kingdom, where he ends up aiding the warrior Zhao in their goal to save Princess Su-Lin from Arun the Cruel.
It plays out a lot like the underwhelming Jackie Chan-Jet Li collabThe Forbidden Kingdom. Though it lacks that action pedigree, it’s a good showcase for Bautista as Arun the Cruel.He’s dastardly as any villainyet has a comic streak in him with his arrogance and ignorance. It’s kind of like if his take on Drax fromGuardians of the Galaxywas a bad guy, and he steals the show over the rest of the cast.
Heist(akaBus 657) didn’t set the world alight, as it follows two casino workers who decide to steal money from their crooked boss. One worker, Vaughan, must get a chunk of the money to the hospital to pay for his daughter’s life-saving treatment in time, but when they’re stuck hijacking a city bus, using the passengers as hostages, things go wrong fast.
It’s interesting, though it’s not overly different from other heist flicks. That said, it’s got a strong cast with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Robert De Niro, Morris Chestnut, etc., and Bautista fits in fine among them. He had already begun getting top roles, but this movie showed he could do more than popcorn flicks or cameos, as his performance is just as wordy and serious as his co-stars.
Before he headed up the DCEU, Zack Snyder made an impact withhis 2004 remake ofDawn of the Dead. It could never beat the 1978 original, though it wasn’t trying to. The movie was more of a ‘re-visioning’ that did its own thing, which helped it catch on when it was first released. For an ironic twist, its screenplay was written by his DC Movies’ successor, James Gunn.
The movie’s spiritual follow-up,Army of the Dead, saw Bautista’s Scott Ward lead a group of mercenaries trying to pull a heist on a casino in Las Vegas during a zombie outbreak. It’s a good movie for those looking for action, explosions, twists, and a good Bautista performance. He adds some pathos as an abandoned veteran-turned-merc, giving the movie a little heart between the booms.
Bautista’s performance as Drax intheGuardians of the Galaxymoviesand the MCU in general pretty much cemented his career as an actor. The alien muscleman, high on vengeance-seeking and low on understanding idioms, metaphors, and sarcasm, managed to stand out on his own next to a talking raccoon and a plant creature that can only say “I am Groot.”
That said,GotG Vol. 3may be his last go as Drax, as while it was his breakout role, he’s got his sights set on more testing, dramatic performances. In other words, he isn’t keen on being typecast. Playing Drax or Drax-like roles for the rest of his career, fun as they’d be, would’ve kept him from more serious roles to come.
Interestingly,Blade Runner 2049’s opening scene with Bautista as Sapper Morton was plotted out for the firstBlade Runnermovie. The old protein farmer wouldn’t have been a giant like Bautista, nor would it have led to a fight scene. Yet the scene plays out as planned, as Ryan Gosling’s Officer K arrives to retire him as a rogue replicant.
For those who didn’t catch the movie’s run-up hype, seeing Bautista turn up in an initially quiet, tense role must’ve been surprising. He really captures the mood of someone who knows his end has arrived while trying to hold it off as long as possible before getting physical. Though his time in the movie is brief, his role is one of the most important ones.
Bautista’s role as Glossu Rabban in theDunemovies is a far cry from his Drax-ish Arun the Cruel inThe Warrior’s Gate. Known as ‘The Beast,’ he useshis penchant for sadism to run the Harkonnens’ spice production on Arrakis. In the first movie, he acts as a side villain next to Baron Harkonnen, before getting more focus inDune 2during their efforts to kill the Muad’Dib.
Between these movies andBlade Runner 2049, director Denis Villeneuve really got the most out of Bautista, getting him to perform opposite roles between Morton’s pathos and Raban’s cruelty. Bautista himself seems to think so too, saying inan interview with GQ: “He brings out the best in me. He sees me in a different light, sees the performer that I want to be.”
Director Rian Johnson also enjoyed directing Batista inGlass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, where he played the MRA Twitch streamer Duke Cody. He’s one of a few guests invited to play a murder mystery game at the Glass Onion mansion as one of its ‘Disruptors,’ which is soon gatecrashed by P.I. Benoit Blanc. Things only get more complicated from there asthe murders and mysteries get all too real.
Bautista gets to be a different kind of comic character, practically stealing the show as a narcissist making a living hyping up male superiority and manipulating his arm-candy girlfriend while having his life run by his mother. His character is one of those jerks who’s fun to see in action. Talking to GQ, Johnson said, “Someone is going to give Dave a real dramatic lead role in a movie, and they’re going to look like a genius.”
It would turn out that this genius would likely be M. Night Shyamalan for making Bautista the central antagonist, Leonard, inKnock at the Cabin.Based on the Paul Tremblay novel,The Cabin at the End of the World, Leonard leads his three followers to capture Wen and her fathers, Eric and Andrew, in their cabin. Plagued with visions of the apocalypse, he tells his captives that one of them must die to save the world.
The movie got a fair-to-middling reception, but it’s worth watching to see Bautista in action. He really captures the feeling of someone who is reluctant to take a life yet knows it’s the only way to survive. It’s his strongest performance to date, and it showcases that he’s well on his way to achieving his goal of being “A respected actor.”
