Clayface—a DC offering co-produced by James Gunn—is of the year’s goofiest and campiest films. The film has major Sam Raimi’s Darkman vibes, and features a villain from Batman lore … yet has no Batman.
It is set in Gotham City, though, where actor Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) retreats after an encounter with a mob boss (David Dencik) and his switchblade costs Matt his good looks. Desperate for help, he seeks out a sympathetic doctor (Naomi Ackie) who is experimenting with super-healing microbes. Against her advice, they submit Matt to human trials, and his mangled face soon becomes perfectly repaired.
Ah, but doesn’t this sort of thing always come with a catch? Yes, his face looks better, and the film world starts to accept him again—but he can’t even get through one red carpet without the treatment backfiring and causing his cheeks to practically slide off his head.
Matt inflicts himself with an overdose of the microbes, to the point where he can physically become anybody he is thinking about. This creates all kinds of silly fun as he masquerades as various people on a revenge quest. It makes absolutely no sense, but it is entertaining.
Harries is good here, creating somebody fairly sympathetic even though he’s a well-known eventual comic-book villain. Ackie is equally sympathetic as a doctor doing very stupid things.
Director James Watkins ramps up the gore involving the state of Matt’s face, and the violence Matt inflicts upon himself and others. It treads into major gross-out territory at times.
Time will tell if Clayface ever has an onscreen showdown with a Batman. I don’t like his chances for the next Pattinson Batman movie, but perhaps Gunn has plans for a showdown with another incarnation of Batman in the future. It could be interesting … and really, really gross.
