Robert Pattinson

In this chapter of ‘the filmmaker’s guide’ we’re going to be thinking and rethinking about actors that I have personally called ‘awful’ in the past and seeing why I was wrong, and actors whom I called ‘great’ in the past and seeing why I was wrong. Hopefully, this helps you to identify how your opinion can change as a human being and how, through research and observation, you can make a more informed conclusion even if your previous one was the entire opposite. Film and literature is all about changing our opinions and if our opinions remain static throughout our study then we probably haven’t had the full experience of the subject at hand. We need to be open to change in our thought processes and really, that’s what criticism and theory is about. If we start by opening our opinions up to change on particular base level types, then we can slowly build these up to see how we could possibly change our opinions on a grand scale. I will start by rethinking actors and actresses I have either previously thought as not very good at their job or very good at their job and will be arguing the opposite; demonstrating my change of opinion. So, if you see the ‘rethinking…’ line in my title, you can bet it is a part of this series.

Robert Pattinson

Whilst I was growing up, Robert Pattinson was the Twilight Vampire that pretty much every 'scene' girl liked. Fortunately enough for myself, I was not a scene-girl and so, I did not like Robert Pattinson. I spent many years not liking Robert Pattinson and feeling like he was every other teen actor ever. It wasn't really a constructive opinion as I had only actually seen him in the first half of the first Twilight film because I never gotten around to finishing it though I did read all of the books.

I spent a lot of years avoiding his works but recently, when it came out that he would be in a film with Willem Dafoe, I sought to give him a chance because it was a psychological horror and you all know how much I love that genre. I was incredibly surprised at Robert Pattinson's performance because it was absolutely brilliant in every sense of the word. After this, Robert Pattinson was set to be in the film "The Devil all the Time" (2020) along with one of my favourite young actors, Tom Holland. This time, I gave him another chance thinking it was just a fluke and that Willem Dafoe was actually the good one. However, I was shocked again to realise that Robert Pattinson was absolutely brilliant in this film.

Honestly, I believe that Pattinson has developed into one of the best actors of his generation and I am thoroughly excited for his take on Batman now that I have seen these two films. "The Lighthouse" showcases Robert Pattinson's ability to play a very Daniel Day-Lewis-esque character and "The Devil All the Time" proves to us that he can also portray a terrifying villain and a machiavellian yet disgusting gothic figure. There are many layers to his acting and his emotional range is brilliant in going from being narcissistic with his own powers to being terrified for his own life in his newest film "The Devil all the Time" (2020).

In "Tenet" (2020) Robert Pattinson seems like the best thing about the movie. Again, a character of great emotional range and a good balance between melodrama and hyper-realism - Pattinson is possibly best in roles that make a good blend of realistic gritty and almost romanticist airs.

When it comes to the trailer for his "Batman" movie in 2021, I can say that he feels like an emotional, gritty Batman. A cross between the melodramatic styles of Val Kilmer's Batman with his romance to Nicole Kidman's Chase Meridian and Christian Bale's gritty psychodrama-esque hyper-realism. I am definitely hoping that Robert Pattinson takes on the role of Bruce Wayne to be someone conceited by his own power as a man over a symbol because I think that would be the correct way for him to go based on his acting styles in other movies.

So, even though I have never really hated his acting, I've never really paid attention to him from the first Twilight film until now and I am very glad that this man practically evolved. He's evolving fast and I'm putting bets on the fact that he may be the next big English Actor Underdog - like Gary Oldman.

Join me next time when we will be looking at "Rethinking Henry Cavill"...