Clayface

I can't lie, I enjoyed this one. Weird thing is I kinda expected to?? I haven’t been a huge fan of James Gunn’s direction, but between parts of Lanterns and now Clayface, I’m lil more optimistic about this DCU than I was before. The Good First off, it’s rated R and it actually uses it. It ain’t really a horror movie, but it has jump scares in places you don't anticipate. Those unexpected jump scares were hands down the best part of the movie for me, I appreciated THAT. The body horror was really good too. I’m not the biggest horror guy, so this was the perfect level for somebody with a mild tolerance like me lol. The kills were crazy creative. They really dug into what you can actually do with clay, and every kill was unique and more creative than the last one. I was also good with them saving the full Clayface reveal for later in the movie. A full Clayface with no Batman around to counter him would’ve been lame as hell anyway. The Bad The main thing: it did NOT feel like a comic book movie at all. The only thing tying this to the DCU was them saying it’s in Gotham. Not even a mention of Batman at all. Idk if that’s because Batman hasn’t shown up in this universe yet or what, but literally no other comic book characters got mentioned besides Matt Hagen. It felt just like a street level crime movie tbh. The pacing at the beginning was too fast. Once he got his injections though, the pace got good. The love interest could’ve been a little better. She was a great actress in the role mind you, and I did like the chemistry they had on camera, but the character could’ve used more. Matt’s descent into madness was good and gradual and pulled me in, but idk if it’s because I already know he’s a villain that it felt kinda expected. Like maybe a better backstory to make the character more human than they depicted would've been appreciated. Maybe it’s cliché, but I’m a fan of villains you can relate to, where you feel like their side of the story is actually valid. Final Thoughts Barely felt like a comic book movie, but the creative kills, the body horror, and those jump scares had me locked in. Gunn MIGHT be on to something after all but we’ll see for real when Man of Tomorrow releases.