Final Score Review - Dave Bautista Flourishes In Absurdly Fun British Action Revival
Football's not a matter of life and death, except when it is.
There's something of an issue with action movies at present. For a genre that used to (unfairly) receive the label of being two dimensional and disposable, most modern action films feel like they've never fully got their eyes on the road.
Everything now has half a mind on world-building, or on foundation-laying. Even last year's The Mummy, critically received as a dreadful misstep, was produced under strict instruction to leave plenty of room for future sequels, spin-offs and crossovers. None of which are now apparently coming.
In the here and now though, Final Score is the latest on-screen vehicle for Dave Bautista (or, Batista From The Wrestling, as he's occasionally still known). After justifiably receiving praise for his supporting performances in Guardians of the Galaxy, Spectre, and Blade Runner 2049, this is arguably his highest-profile role as a leading man.
To be blunt, despite the obvious mutual skill-sets involved in both jobs, wrestlers do not automatically good actors make. The anomalous success of Dwayne Johnson distorts this fact somewhat, but for every time you've had The Rock in Furious 7, you've had Triple H in Blade Trinity, that weird softcore porn film Buff Bagwell did, and Hulk Hogan saying "dookie".
However if it wasn't already apparent that Dave Bautista has firmly avoided falling into this trap, Final Score should serve as the cementing of his status as a screen presence. There is a lot in this film that will likely divide opinion, but his performance won't be it.
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