The Best and Worst of Henry Cavill

“The Best and Worst of” series chronicles the career highlights and lowlights of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week, I take a look at the filmography of “Mission-Impossible: Fallout” star Henry Cavill.

Films starring Henry Cavill that I've seen:
The Count of Monte Cristo
Stardust
Whatever Works
Immortals
Man of Steel
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
Justice League

Best Performance: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
After watching him stare blankly into the camera for the duration of Immortals and Man of Steel, I was starting to become convinced that Cavill was one of the most generally talentless actors in the industry. Then The Man from U.N.C.L.E. came along and completely changed my perspective. The role of suave CIA agent Napoleon Solo brought out a hidden charisma and gift for delivering snappy one-liners that officially nixed my theory that Cavill was an emotionless cyborg sent from a distant planet to take the roles James Marsden passed on.

Worst Performance: Man of Steel (2013)
Man of Steel brought my opinion of Superman as a character to an all-time low and Cavill was largely responsible for the development of this take. His staggering lack of personality and likability made this weak-ass superhero even more dull than he is on paper.

Best Film: Justice League (2017)
I know that its blasphemous to praise anything that comes out of the DCU, but I really enjoyed Justice League. It reminded me a lot of the early Marvel movies where worldbuilding was secondary to the creative team having fun with the goofy source material they were handed. In other words, what it lacked in ambition and character development it made up for with concise plotting, terrific action sequences and a well-matched cast that seemed to enjoy each other's company. Justice League was one of the better blockbusters I saw in 2017 and hopefully its somewhat disappointing box office haul won't hurt the odds of a sequel seeing the light of the day.

Worst Film: Man of Steel (2013)
While I haven't signed any of the petitions that have demanded Warner Brothers to release his original cut of Justice League, I'm an unapologetic Zack Snyder fanboy. 300 and his remake of Dawn of the Dead are borderline masterpieces that were among my favorite movies released in the 2000's. Hell, I even loved the widely-despised Sucker Punch and found a good chunk of Watchmen to be delightful. However, I'm not enough of a mindless stooge to pretend that my pal Zack put forth a quality effort with Man of Steel. With its horrific acting, glacial pacing and repetitive, chaotic action scenes that look like they were shot from a blimp a mile away, Man of Steel was a monumental dud that is right alongside Ang Lee's Hulk, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Catwoman in the top-tier of my personal superhero movie Hall of Shame.

Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “The Spy Who Dumped Me” star Mila Kunis.