“Muddled”: The movie Jeremy Irons admitted was rubbish
An iconic British actor and a heartthrob for some, Jeremy Irons is a stalwart of the industry who has been fortunate enough to collaborate with the likes of David Cronenberg, Jerzy Skolimowski and Steven Soderbergh. Rising to the fold back in the 1970s, Irons has appeared in everything from beloved TV costume dramas to superhero flicks that have thrilled thousands of fans the world over.
Primarily an actor who bathes in arthouse cinema, as stated, Irons has collaborated with some of the greatest artists of the 20th century to make films that stand the test of time, such as Kafka, Dead Ringers and Moonlighting. Such likely comes from his own appreciation of the theatre, being one of the few actors who can claim to have earned the Triple Crown of Acting, which involves an individual winning an Oscar, Tony and Emmy award.
Perhaps the greatest example of these styles marrying together into one perfect role was when Irons played the villainous Scar in Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff’s Disney classic The Lion King. Clearly frolicking in his role as the ‘big baddie’, Irons’ voice pierces through the screen, embodying Scar as if the actor had always been the lion since the first day he stepped into Hollywood.
Yet, this wouldn’t be the last time Irons worked in mainstream filmmaking, with the actor later becoming a part of the DC family, playing the role of Alfred in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and 2017’s Justice League. Due to be a major franchise, the series ended up being a critical bomb, with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice being panned across the board, despite earning over $850million at the box office.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, however, Irons revealed that he knew the film was going to be a bomb and that it deserved the “kicking” it received. “Deservedly so. I mean it took £800 million, so the kicking didn’t matter but it was sort of overstuffed,” he stated. “‘It was very muddled. I think the next one will be simpler. The script is certainly a lot smaller, it’s more linear…I’m tied into The Batman at the minute, which is nice because it’s a bit of income…not that I need a bit of an income”.
Constantly chasing the coattails of Marvel’s cinematic universe, which has long dominated the contemporary industry, DC has never been able to match the grandeur of its rivals. The odd films, such as 2017’s Wonder Woman and 2018’s Aquaman, came relatively close, but even these exemplary movies couldn’t even graze the critical success and popularity of some of Marvel’s worst-performing flicks.
A largely irredeemable piece of cinematic trash, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice should, indeed, be disregarded into the bargain bin, never to be seen again.
