107 replies to this topic

[polishgenius]

This topic is inspired by two things: the hilariously bad choice of Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher, where even the director seems to think he's wrong for it when you contrast the long slow menacing buildup shots to Cruise's manic twitchyness, and catching up on Game of Thrones and thinking how nailed on perfect are Charles Dance and Maisie Williams in their roles?


So I was then thinking who else fit into a role exactly as you imagined them, and who made you facepalm a few extra minutes of your life away?

The obvious one for me is Ian Mckellen as both Gandalf and Magneto - Gandalf in particular was so completely right.

And obviously, speaking of wizards, Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, ha. Even though I liked that movie.


Anyway, your thoughts?

[Tyrion Lannister]

Maybe I just have Game of Thrones on the brain, but Maise Williams, NCW and Sean Bean all jump to mind immediately for me.

As for bad casting, how about Ahnold as Mr. Freeze?

[Grogsmash]

Tom Cruise is great casting for Jack Reacher. Casting based on physical size is pretty silly when a character really is simply not all about huge physical size. So, unless you are casting someone like The Mountain or Brienne, its just not necessary at all. Even in those cases, you can take perspective shots to do the job.

Check out Tom Cruise in Collateral, probably the closest character to Jack Reacher he has played. He did an incredible job in that movie.

[Slurktan]

Viggo as Aragorn was bad casting(although nowhere near as bad as the original casting of Stuart Townsend).  Nothing like the description in the books and not able to pull off the dignitas that comes later in the story.

[Derfel Cadarn]

Bad - Keanu reeves as Harker in Bram Stokers Dracula.  

[Renasko]

polishgenius, on 05 July 2012 - 12:52 PM, said:

This topic is inspired by two things: the hilariously bad choice of Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher, where even the director seems to think he's wrong for it when you contrast the long slow menacing buildup shots to Cruise's manic twitchyness, and catching up on Game of Thrones and thinking how nailed on perfect are Charles Dance and Maisie Williams in their roles?


So I was then thinking who else fit into a role exactly as you imagined them, and who made you facepalm a few extra minutes of your life away?

The obvious one for me is Ian Mckellen as both Gandalf and Magneto - Gandalf in particular was so completely right.

And obviously, speaking of wizards, Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, ha. Even though I liked that movie.


Anyway, your thoughts?

I actually didn't mind that one all that much. Keanu can't act for shit, but his douchiness rubs off on the role and came across OK. Laughable when you consider how the character is supposed to be, though...

Anyway, my pick: Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. Urgh.

And while we're talking about comic adaptations, how about Michael Fassbender as Magneto? The man has acting chops, even if the film itself doesn't hold up too well.

Patrick Stewart as Xavier, as well.

[Former Lord of Winterfell]

Slurktan, on 05 July 2012 - 05:02 PM, said:

Viggo as Aragorn was bad casting(although nowhere near as bad as the original casting of Stuart Townsend).  Nothing like the description in the books and not able to pull off the dignitas that comes later in the story.

Agree completely.

I also didn't like Hugo Weaving as Elrond.  He had this angry face in that role that just didn't fit.  When Merry and Pippen came running out during the Council of Elrond, he looked like he wanted to murder them or something.

The man (or elf, or both I suppose) definitely had inappropriate anger issues in that movie.

[Lightning Lord]

Absolutely correct.  I like Hugo Weaving, but he wasn't right.  A lot of the elves were off.  I never pictured Tolkien elves as angry, they always seemed more prone to whimsy, with the ability to warrior up if they had to.  But not angrily.

[Mexal]

Grogsmash, on 05 July 2012 - 04:56 PM, said:

Tom Cruise is great casting for Jack Reacher. Casting based on physical size is pretty silly when a character really is simply not all about huge physical size. So, unless you are casting someone like The Mountain or Brienne, its just not necessary at all. Even in those cases, you can take perspective shots to do the job.

Check out Tom Cruise in Collateral, probably the closest character to Jack Reacher he has played. He did an incredible job in that movie.

Absolutely disagree. Cruise was great in Collateral but he is no Jack Reacher. Physical size was the biggest descriptor of Reacher and it went a long way to why people reacted to him the way they did. If Cruise walked into a dinner wearing shit clothes in the backwaters of WV, people wouldn't really look twice because he's not intimidating. Just the absolute wrong feel for the character. No power, no strength, all finesse. That's Bourne, not Reacher.

[Stubby]

Cruise as Reacher is the worst casting in the history of casting.

I know Lee Child has said much the same thing as Grogsmash said upthread, but that doesn't change anything.  Mexal had the right of it when he said that it IS all about Reacher's size.  Further, Reacher is blond and has pale eyes.  Physically, Steve Austin would be more appropriate in size and age, but I doubt he has the acting chops.  Tom Cruise has neither.

Some of these Reacher moments would be meaningless if he were Cruise:

Spoiler

- his fight with Paulie in Persuader

- his encounter with the prison gangs in The Killing Floor

- in One Shot, the book being made into the current film, there is one bit where some bad dues try to frame him and inherent in the framing is the fact that he is a big guy

- the fact that his chest muscles were so big in Tripwire that they stopped a .38

I have to agree with the GoT casting of Dinklage, Williams and Dance.  Lena heady is wrong for Cersei.

I think Alec Baldwin was the best Jack Ryan and Harrison Ford the worst (he was too old).  Richard Chamberlain was appallingly cast as Bourne, but Matt Damon did OK.

But probably the best casting decision in recent times was Helen Mirren as the Queen.  She was awesome.

[Ouroboros]

Michael Sheen as Tony Blair is dead spot on. Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty. (Yeah, it isn't a faithful adaptation so it doesn't fully count, but he nailed that role)

Arnie as Mr Freeze. Tommy Lee Jones as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Halle Berry as Storm. All terrible choices.

[polishgenius]

Stubby, on 05 July 2012 - 09:00 PM, said:

Cruise as Reacher is the worst casting in the history of casting.

I know Lee Child has said much the same thing as Grogsmash said upthread, but that doesn't change anything.  Mexal had the right of it when he said that it IS all about Reacher's size.  Further, Reacher is blond and has pale eyes.  Physically, Steve Austin would be more appropriate in size and age, but I doubt he has the acting chops.  Tom Cruise has neither.

Some of these Reacher moments would be meaningless if he were Cruise:

I'm talking from a position of ignorance here because all I know about Reacher is second hand, but it seems to me that pure size is a secondary issue here to how Reacher is supposed to act. Even from the trailer, it looks like they're after a casual, almost slow intimidation whereas Cruise is just manic. Russel Crowe isn't that much taller but I bet he wouldn't get anywhere near the outrage.


Idris Elba would be the perfect pick though if it wasn't for the obvious elephant in the room of him being English...


Another perfect one: RDJ as Tony Stark.

[Grogsmash]

Stubby, on 05 July 2012 - 09:00 PM, said:

Further, Reacher is blond and has pale eyes.  Physically, Steve Austin would be more appropriate in size and age, but I doubt he has the acting chops.  Tom Cruise has neither.

Some of these Reacher moments would be meaningless if he were Cruise:

Seriously, he is blond and has pale eyes? Were you one of the people complaining that Syrio Forel was miscast in the tv show because he had hair?

Also, while I can somewhat buy the argument of him not having the physical presence, the idea that Cruise doesn't have the acting chops is absurd. He is a total scientology nutjob sure, but he is a very good action actor. The MI movies may be schlock but Cruise does an excellent job in them. Same with Collateral. He has also done an excellent job in many other movies.

[Matrim Fox Cauthon]

Great: Ioan Gruffudd & Gregory Peck as Horatio Hornblower

[Stubby]

Grogsmash, on 06 July 2012 - 01:49 AM, said:

Also, while I can somewhat buy the argument of him not having the physical presence, the idea that Cruise doesn't have the acting chops is absurd.

He has only ever played Tom Cruise.

[elmis]

One of the best for me is Martin Sheen as President Bartlet. Even though that role wasn't a known character before, I really really like what he did with it.

I also agree with both Patrick Stewart as Xavier and Ian Mckellen as Gandalf

[Mexal]

Grogsmash, on 06 July 2012 - 01:49 AM, said:

Seriously, he is blond and has pale eyes? Were you one of the people complaining that Syrio Forel was miscast in the tv show because he had hair?

Also, while I can somewhat buy the argument of him not having the physical presence, the idea that Cruise doesn't have the acting chops is absurd. He is a total scientology nutjob sure, but he is a very good action actor. The MI movies may be schlock but Cruise does an excellent job in them. Same with Collateral. He has also done an excellent job in many other movies.

He doesn't have the acting chops to play a role where he is massively miscast.

[Sepiroth]

Just on the GoT series, most castings have been great, Theon, Jon, Ned, Catelyn, Tyrion all great picks

The castings Im most disappointed on are: Asha Greyjoy & the Onion Knight

[Revan Baratheon]

I thought the Harry potter cast was spot on(except ginny weasley).
I initially thought onion knight was gonna be a dissapointment, but Cunningham pulled him off perfectly.
Disappointed: The star wars prequel casting except for obiwan.

[David Selig]

Worst: Kristin Kreuk and Shawn Ashmore in the Sci-Fi channel's travesty of an adaptation of Earthsea.