Anyway Clayface is a cinematic strobe light with orange, green, white, and red hues, the type of movie that takes place in a secondary world where I thought only Batman & Robin existed (that would be good old Gotham City). An actor's face becomes disfigured by a mob boss because he got with his girl. What does thespian boy do? Well he (Hagen played by Tom Rhys Harris) regains his look, falls victim to the side effects of said look, becomes a radical antihero, and seeks revenge on said mob boss and his nasty cronies. What? Did you think I was gonna say Matt's mug was literally made of clay? I mean I don't think so.
So OK, Clayface is a product of DC studios and the DC universe. It stars Rhys Harris (mentioned earlier), Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, and Max Minghella, troupers who are decently cast and have crackling scenes between each other. Lots of glitz and glitter, some carnage and butchery, a little Hollywood snobbery, some deadly mimicry (don't ask). Yeah Clayface isn't a bad flick but it is a wandering downer, going off on divagations and being vile and icky instead of compelling and plainly cogent.
I mean instead of playing it as a straight thriller a la 1989's Johnny Handsome or even Joker from a few years ago, Clayface's director (England's James Watkins) would rather bite off more than he can chew, fashioning Clayface as an ode to early James Gunn. The first thing I said as I left the theater was "um, where's the vomit bucket?" Natch.
Written by Jesse Burleson
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