![]() It's been nearly two years since Superman's (Henry Cavill) colossal battle with Zod (Michael Shannon) devastated the city of Metropolis. He was never going to do poorly in Nolan’s hands, but putting together a nuanced performance that’s always enjoyable to watch, doing so in a series of big IMAX films, and having the character you’re playing be Alfred Pennyworth is an achievement worthy of the top spot on more than a couple of lists.View All Videos Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Photos Ben Affleck as Batman in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." (L-R) Henry Cavill as Superman and Amy Adams as Lois Lane in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Henry Cavill as Superman in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." (L-R) Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Tao Okamoto as Mercy Graves in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Henry Cavill as Superman in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." (L-R) Henry Cavill as Superman and Ben Affleck as Batman in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Henry Cavill as Superman in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Jeremy Irons as Alfred in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Diane Lane as Martha Kent in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Gal Gadot as Diana Prince in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Henry Cavill as Superman in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Gal Gadot as Diana Prince in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." (L-R) Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Henry Cavill as Clark Kent in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Being in arguably the best Batman movie imbues the overall performance with a lot of force that maybe wouldn’t be there if the surrounding filmmaking was worse. Caine’s ability to act and feel natural in a scene sells so much of the lesser Alfred material, that when he gets great Alfred material (i.e., every pep talk/info dump), it feels like another well-shot arrow from Christopher Nolan’s quiver. ![]() The fact that Caine seems to be enjoying himself - and can act extremely well - makes it so that his Pennyworth smoothly does all the things you’d expect (serve drinks, be fatherly, fret for his master’s safety) and makes them feel imperative, like always the right thing to do, and not just stuff that Batman’s butler is doing. ![]() Like just another person we can blame for why the movies aren’t quite working anymore.Ĭhristian Bale’s Bruce Wayne - like all Batmans who don’t have a Robin - doesn’t have a lot of friends, but he does have more than one friend, and so his reliance on Michael Caine’s Alfred as a trusted companion and a live-in therapist makes their relationship feel pure, and not like a contrived box being ticked because it’s from the source material. But when Keaton is no longer the Batman, that energy no longer bounces off this Alfred, and the character ends up feeling like the new guy's babysitter/manager or something. It makes this Alfred feel like a guy who must be pretty cool, too, to keep up with this guy. This twitchy, morosely offbeat loner who’s so in his head that he lets his villains eat all the scenery in his movies. In Gough’s scenes with Michael Keaton, he brings a cool dignity to a character charged with being not just Bruce’s steward and good friend, but the steward and friend to this Bruce. Their Alfred is iconic (and perhaps a generation’s template for the character) and the casting through-line across all these films, which is not bad. In a world with no nostalgia for them, it is hard to imagine what would eke through as value outside the lore itself, Batman Returns especially. These movies are absolute bangers, even the essentially bad ones that Joel Schumacher directed.
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