Polygon's reviewer calls Clayface a dull superhero film without a superhero. Here is what the verdict says, and why it is Polygon's, not ours.
Clayface arrives in theaters on October 23, and the first major verdicts are in. Polygon's review is blunt: the site calls the film "a total disaster" and "yet another major misstep" for James Gunn's DC Universe. To be clear, the verdict is Polygon's. Savvy VibeZ has not reviewed the film and this article gives no score of its own.
What the film is about
According to Polygon, Clayface is directed by James Watkins from a story by Mike Flanagan. It follows Matt Hagen, an up-and-coming actor played by Tom Rhys Harries, whose looks and recent best actor nomination make him the talk of the town. After he sleeps with a mob boss's wife, the boss has his face slashed. Hagen's reconstructed face is grotesque, and his career collapses.
He then turns to an experimental procedure developed by Dr. Caitlyn Corr, played by Naomi Ackie, which promises to restore his appearance with "nanocells". At first it works. Over time the nanocells malfunction, leaving Hagen with a melting appearance and the ability to shape-shift into anyone he chooses.
Where Polygon's reviewer found fault
The main complaint is the lead character. The reviewer argues the film needed either a sympathetic Hagen whose life is torn apart or an engaging jerk who gets his comeuppance. In Polygon's view it delivers neither, and Hagen comes across as a dull, shallow Hollywood phony, which makes the revenge story hard to care about.
The supporting cast fares little better in the review. David Dencik, who plays the mob boss Markos Szabo, is described as too small for the role. Max Minghella's honest Gotham cop is called underwritten, and a half-formed attraction between Hagen and Corr does not land for the reviewer. Ackie is singled out as probably doing the best job in the film.
The review also says the opening 15 to 20 minutes move at a breakneck pace that feels almost apologetic, leaving little time to learn who Hagen was before his disfigurement.
The one point in its favour
Polygon does credit the film for delivering on its body horror billing, with some "cringey, gross, hard-to-watch" imagery. But the reviewer says it never feels like a horror movie, because nothing in it is actually frightening. The summary is that it is a superhero movie without a superhero.
The review also questions timing. It asks why the film exists before the Batman of Gunn's DC Universe has been established, and compares the situation to Supergirl, suggesting it has come too early in a universe still taking shape.
A single opinion
One review is only one reviewer's reaction, and critical opinion on a film often splits. Readers deciding whether to see Clayface will want to wait for more reviews and, ideally, judge for themselves once it opens on October 23.
Picture credit: DC Studios / Warner Bros. (official Clayface poster)
