Joey Magidson
I’ve wanted to see the character of Clayface on the big screen ever since I first saw the Batman villain show up in 1992 on Batman: The Animated Series. The idea of a Clayface film always seemed very hard to pull off and do right, yet hope remained. Then, when Mike Flanagan was pitching his take on the character, things got exciting. Now, we have an actual Clayface movie, based on Flanagan’s script, and it’s…just fine. While not a disappointment, there’s a sense here that we’re only getting some of what we could have. The end result is a flick that does more right than wrong, yet clearly is leaving some meat on the bone.
Clayface has bold elements to it, especially considering that this is a studio film, yet it also plays it very safe overall. It’s a strange mix, considering the substantial gore, hard R rating, and body horror genre that it’s working in. There’s a two steps forward, one step back, sense to things that allows you to appreciate the quality, while always noticing the shortcomings. There’s enough here to recommend, though obviously with expectations kept somewhat in check.
When we meet Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), his star in Hollywood is on the rise. The young actor, who went from poverty in Gotham City to stardom, is about to be nominated for an Academy Award, while working on his next high profile film. Celebrating that night in Gotham with his childhood best friend and fellow actor Corey Bowert (Joshua James), they go clubbing, attracting the attention of every woman in the room. That includes Mia (Joana Ribeiro), who Matt doesn’t realize is the girlfriend of powerful mob boss Markos Szabo (David Dencik). Waking up next to her and surrounded by Markos and his goons, Matt is brutally attacked, with his face disfigured in the process. Thus begins a precipitous downfall, as he’s cast out of Hollywood, forced to move back to Gotham, and loses everything.
Just as all hope feels lost, Matt comes across Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), a scientist experimenting with a breakthrough from of nanotechnology therapy. Volunteering for human trials, Matt convinces Caitlyn to inject him with her experiment, and shockingly, his face goes back to normal. At least temporarily, Matt is back in the game, though he quickly sees that the effects are not permanent. As he and Caitlyn navigate that, revenge seeps into his mind against those who ruined him. Stricken with deep psychological and physical side effects, Matt begins to dole out justice, all while seeing his body begin to turn more and more into a living sort of clay.
Tom Rhys Harries does good work with this breakthrough role, especially early on as we’re first getting to know Matt. While you don’t necessarily buy him as an Oscar nominee, the initially scenes invest you in the character. Later on, as he’s descending into villainy, it’s not always subtle, but he never twirls his clay mustache, either. I suspect we’ll be seeing more from him soon. Naomi Ackie is fine, though the script very much shortchanges her character, abandoning motivations when the plot calls for it. In addition to the aforementioned David Dencik, Joshua James, and Joana Ribeiro (all forgettable), supporting players here include a wasted Eddie Marsan and Max Minghella, alongside Daniel Betts, Nancy Carroll, Ruby Sear, and more.
Director James Watkins is at his best when dealing in the body horror and gore elements of the movie. There are some very gnarly scenes, including graphic close ups. Watkins really embraces the R rating. Is this a simplistic take on The Substance? Sure. Does it still have a visceral quality? Certainly. Where this film falls flatter is in the screenplay, which is torn between some fascinating elements that feel drawn from the original Mike Flanagan draft, and the more stock parts that sure seem to be from the Hossein Amini rewrite. Amini is a talented writer, to be sure, but all of the interesting ideas about identity, as well as the look at how rotten Hollywood is, get short shrift once we focus on a mobster, generic revenge, and bland villainy. The tragedy of Clayface stops feeling earned. One does wonder what Flanagan both writing and directing on his own could have brought, but it also feels like Watkins could have executed Flanagan’s vision too. It’s this mix that leaves more of a mixed bag in its wake.
Clayface, ultimately, is fine. Gorehounds will get a kick out of the body horror, even if this falls short of The Fly or The Substance levels. As a standalone DC effort, it’s solid enough, and feels far more successful overall than the Spider-Man-less villain films Sony has been trying to make happen. At the same time, there’s a much better movie in here somewhere, so whether we get a sequel to pursue that or not, there’s an undeniable sense that this is a bit of a missed opportunity, acceptable as it overall is.
SCORE: ★★★
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