Jesse Eisenberg: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

1. Lex Luthor - Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016)

Here it is: the big one. And boy, is it big. This year’s Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice stirred millions of film fans up, for both good and bad reasons.

I’m not here to argue whether the film itself is any good (it’s not) or if Ben Affleck makes a decent Batman (he does). One thing that I think everyone can agree on is that Eisenberg’s performance as Superman big bad Lex Luthor is pretty bloody terrible.

Saddled with a script that’s able as subtle as a breezeblock to the face ("You flew too close to the sun", "Devils don't come from hell beneath us - they come from the sky" and other eye-rolling examples abound), Eisenberg admittedly has a lot of work to do in order to try and turn Luthor back into the menacing but intellectually brilliant figure of the comics.

Only he doesn’t. Instead, he doubles-down on Luthor’s laughable exaggeration, playing him like a cross between a Jack Nicholson-era Joker and an amateur pantomime villain. All of Eisenberg’s best acting abilities – fast-paced delivery, smart dialogue, physical expression – are turned on their head and used not for nuance or characterisation but to insert a comic book performance into a film that is trying to take itself very seriously.

Luthor babbles away about nothingness in every scene he’s in, spouting random comments about the nature of god and man without ever really explaining quite why he hates Superman so much. This reaches a peak at the film’s climax, as Eisenberg’s performance ramps up (who thought that even possible?) alongside the increasing ridiculous spectacle on screen.

It’s a huge shame, as Luthor shares much in common with Eisenberg’s greatest character: like Zuckerberg, he’s a smart individual with almost unlimited resources driven to create something great, who comes up against the threat of someone who might challenge his claim to fame. But what we get instead is a barely one-dimensional caricature that not only ignores the strengths of its source, but also wastes the potential of a hugely talented actor.

What's your favourite Jesse Eisenberg performance? And what's his worse? Share your take down in the comments.