#stuber

Unironically and free of hyperbole, Dave Bautista is my favourite kind of actor, because he's unpredictable. He's in that sweet, sweet spot where he's jussssssssst famous enough to be able to stretch his chops on well written projects with a need for star power to get made ("The Last Showgirl", "Bushwick", etc. Quick side note: watch both of those, the first for his performance which is my favourite this year, and the latter because it's fucking fantastic), cutting his teeth on trashy dogshit and the usual fare of "actor turned wrestler" ("Wrong Side of Town", "The Scorpion King 3", the fucking TERRIBLE "Escape Plan" sequels, which are very "dad movie") to keep the lights on; to weirder middle budget stuff which could go either way ("Hotel Artemis", which rules by the way, or "Stuber", a throwback to 15 rated bloody action comedies of the 80s like "Midnight Run" or "48 Hours", and which honestly is just the right side of hit-or-miss). He then gets to do the prestige science fiction like "Dune" and "Blade Runner 2049" (his scene still sticks in my memory all these years later) and show what he's like as an actor: please refer to the fucking excellent murder mystery "The Glass Onion". Yet he's still able to be "the type" he embodies, and was a great goon in "Riddick" and "Spectre" (Dave Bautista got to be a Bond henchman! You go buddy, that's sick as fuck!), his performance in "Man with the Iron Fists" actually sold me on his casting in his biggest known role, the iconic Drax in "Guardians of the Galaxy", consistently and rightfully stealing the show. He even does that classic "lovabe goofball action hero" thing of being in delightfully lame kids movies like "My Spy" (which had a sequel, did you know it had a sequel? Bloody hell) and do what every action movie star needs to do: A "Die Hard" knock off in the form of the actually pretty fun "Final Score" (if you're wondering: it's "Die Hard" in a football stadium. Good choice, movie, and great choice Bautista!). And I get to say "Studio Ghibli Alumnus Dave Bautista" which is so delightfully, casually insane that I have even more respect for him than I do already, if that were possible. I guess this is a Dave Bautista appreciation post. You fucking rule man.