Bob Garver

Spin-off movies for Batman villains have been a mixed bag over the years. “Joker” won an Oscar, but it was followed up with the terrible “Joker: Folie à Deux.” “Suicide Squad” took Harley Quinn from niche fan-favorite to mainstream icon, but “Catwoman” somehow managed to bungle one of the most marketable castings in movie history. Now comes “Clayface,” based a character known to those who follow Batman lore, but not exactly an A-lister. Though connected to a huge franchise, the film has kept both its budget (an estimated $44 million) and its creative ambitions low. Clearly there was only limited interest from the film’s backers, which might explain the apparent limited interest from the filmmakers.

The film follows actor Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), who at the beginning of the film is on top of the world. He’s pulled himself up from a rough upbringing in Gotham City to movie stardom and an Oscar nomination. Then he makes the mistake of falling for the wrong woman, Mia (Joana Ribeiro). Despite warnings from his best friend Corey (Joshua James) that she’s the girlfriend of gangster Markos Szabo (David Dencik), Matt goes ahead with the seduction. Szabo finds out and won’t let the disrespect slide, mangling Matt’s face.

In the aftermath of the attack, Matt loses everything. Szabo is too powerful to be held legally responsible, expensive plastic surgery barely puts a dent in his disfigurement, and the loss of his looks kills his acting career. He’s at rock bottom when he learns of radical cell rejuvenation technology being developed by Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie). He begs to become a human test subject, and although the treatment is supposed to be used for less superficial purposes, Corr reluctantly agrees, and after several weeks of high-risk treatments, Matt has his face back.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a villain origin story if it were that simple. Matt goes overboard with the treatments, which have unprecedented effects on his body. Sometimes the new cells do things he doesn’t want them to do, like create unwanted coverings for his eyes (an impromptu surgery in an airport bathroom is especially harrowing). Sometimes they do things they were never designed to do, like allow him to take on the appearance of other people. At first, he’s scared of these freakish developments, but then he realizes that he can use these… by now, the word “powers” applies - to get revenge on those who wronged him.

Those familiar with the Villain Origin formula can see where this is going. He’s going to spend most of the movie taking out bad guys while slowly becoming a bad guy himself. Left to be the actual hero is Dr. Corr, who is engaged to rare non-corrupt Gotham detective John Borrelli (Max Minghella). Can the couple survive the wrath of the monster Caitlyn has created?

A few creative decisions stand out. Impressive body horror is on display, as the cells don’t always know what a healthy human body is supposed to look like (and Matt decides to do unnatural things with his body anyway). Several transformations are done silently and instantaneously, which on one hand is undeniably “clean,” but on the other seems like a shortcut considering the limited budget.

Whatever “Clayface” does right with its visual style is undone by its cookie-cutter story, especially with how quickly Matt jumps from understandable revenge to outright villainy because the movie requires it. And yet, even though I’m not recommending this movie, I would like to see more movies like it. Batman’s rogues gallery is one of the most colorful in all of media, and I’d love to see even low-stakes attention given to more such characters. The right set of hungry young filmmakers could do wonders for an as-yet underutilized baddie. I can sense a really good Batman villain spinoff on the horizon, it’s just not this one.

Grade: C

“Clayface” is rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, language, some nudity, and brief drug use. Its running time is 108 minutes.

Contact Bob Garver at rrg251@nyu.edu.