From the MCU to Knock at the Cabin, 2023 has been the year of Dave Bautista
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Professional wrestlers making a leap to Hollywood is, at this point, no uncommon move. With them being trained in drama and possessing an innate physicality (and physical attributes) that are an action director’s dream, the last few decades have seen stars made out of the likes of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and John Cena, with dozens of others appearing in scattered roles.
Knock on effects
It began withKnock at the Cabin, the latest film in the current M. Night Shyamalan-aissance, an era which has seen the thriller director reinvent himself with lower-budget films likeThe Visit,Split, andOld. In a way, he was the perfect director to handle what is Bautista’s most intriguing role yet – that of the hulking, soft-spoken Leonard, a man with visions of the apocalypse. The way Shyamalan has Leonard menacingly fill the frame (in some shots, he could be either six-feet-tall or sixteen-feet-tall) while also allowing him dramatic, empathetic close-up material invites a trust in his potential as an actor that’s honestly striking.
It’s Bautista at his most fully realized, flipping our expectations of him as mere action flick fodder while delighting in our knowledge of his capacity for nailing violent characters. We wait for the explosion, the part where Bautista unleashes the animal inside (which aptly was his nickname in the WWE), but it’s a credit to both Shyamalan and Bautista himself that the bomb never quite goes off. Instead, we’re drawn into the peeling back of his layers, the man with the sweet, low voice who might just be right about wanting to save the world. It’s a downright graceful performance and the highlight of the film.
On the other hand, Bautista’s final turn as Drax in theGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3is all comfort food, a performer that understands a character’s every oblivious glance and intense twitch. A goofball among goofballs, Drax has always been the go-to for a punchline, and GOTG 3 is no different. The moments that show off his softer side, such as when he interacts with children or reveals that he’s grown protective of his teammate Mantis, are really no surprise. We all love Drax, so why wouldn’t they? Instead, he’s the broad-shouldered support beam for the film’s bigger emotional swings and the character you can always count on to work.
His battle antics remain as refreshing as ever, especially in a film so heavily imbued with CGI effects. Drax’s fighting style mostly consists of punching, throwing, slamming, and stabbing and there’s something very viscerally satisfying about watching him go about his business in a sci-fi/fantasy universe. Bautistahas spoken about the factthat it’s harder to maintain such a muscular physique as he gets older, so while Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is a swan song for that particular kind of character, Knock at the Cabin offers a viable new beginning.
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Similarly, his voice acting role in Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film,The Boy and the Heron, also allows Bautista to fit nicely into a wider cast. As the Parakeet King, Bautista is bluster and cruelty in equal measure, and he joins a long legacy of fantastic vocal performances in dubs of Miyazaki films. Hopefully he’s given more chances in animated features – as with his baritone articulation in Knock at the Cabin, Bautista is an underrated talent here.
Daniel Dockery is a writer for places like Crunchyroll, Polygon, Vulture, WIRED and Paste Magazine. His debut book,Monster Kids: How Pokemon Taught A Generation To Catch Them All, is available wherever books are sold.
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