This, I did not expect. Sure, I figured Ben Affleck's "Animals" wasn't going to contend for Oscars in any way (it completely skipped the fall festivals), but for it to be getting Razzie-worthy reviews? That's unexpected.
"Affleck is an accomplished filmmaker [...] yet you wouldn't know it from 'Animals,'" The Daily Beast's Nick Schager writes in his review. Vulture calls it a "catastrophe." Want to know just how bad the reactions are? Deadline, an outlet that almost never publishes a negative review, isn't down with Affleck's film. THR calls it "an eye-rolling insult." Forbes says it’s “shockingly bad.”
And just look at the scores: Collider (4/10), ScreenRant (4/10), The Guardian (2/5), Slash Film (4/10), The Telegraph (2/5), The AV Club (C-), IndieWire (C-), RogerEbert(1/4)
Hey, at least Variety liked it.
Might all this vitriol have something to do with Affleck's recent comment that "lots of AI" was used on “Animals”? Critics see themselves as the gatekeepers of cinema, so could all this negative ink being spilled on Affleck's film just be a form of gatekeeping? Or is the film really that bad?
This is all really too bad. I’ve had "Animals" on my Netflix press account for a few days, now and will give it a go tonight. It's always interesting to see what Affleck, the filmmaker, is up to, and here he basically riffs, much as Spike Lee did recently, on Kurosawa's "High and Low." In fact, Affleck recently said that "Animals" was almost canceled after word got out that Lee was making the exact same film as his.
Affleck casts himself in the lead role, alongside Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun, and Gillian Anderson. Connor McIntyre wrote the script, with revisions by the usually-reliable Billy Ray. The story follows an L.A. mayoral candidate (Affleck) and his wife (Washington), whose son is kidnapped. With most of their money gone to campaign spending, they have just a few hours to "get their hands dirty" and come up with the ransom.
While I wouldn't call myself a major fan of his filmography, Affleck in the director's chair is always something of a curiosity. He's helmed four well-reviewed films ("Gone Baby Gone," "The Town," "Argo," and "Air"), including a Best Picture winner ("Argo"), plus one infamous misfire ("Live by Night"). With "Animals," we may have to make that two.
“Animals” hits Netflix this Friday.
This, I did not expect. Sure, I figured Ben Affleck's "Animals" wasn't going to contend for Oscars in any way (it completely skipped the fall festivals), but for it to be getting such toxic reviews? That's unexpected.