Despite all the love that has been poured in the direction of Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, and even George Clooney for their roles as Bruce Wayne in the wake of the cameos they had inThe Flash,Christian Baleis still the defining Batman of an entire generation. Not only wasBatman Beginsthe film that proved that the franchise didn’t have to linger with the shadow ofBatman & Robinforever, butThe Dark Knight Risesremains the highest-grossingBatmanfilm of all time. That’s all without mentioningThe Dark Knight, a colossal popular culture juggernaut that changed the course of the film industry forever. While many would credit Heath Ledger’s maniacal performance as the Crown Prince of Crime as the defining element of the film, it’s Bale’s nuanced version of a more conflicted Batman that turned the 2008 comic book sequel into an all-time classic.
Of course, one of the reasons that Bale remains so iconic as Batman is that it’s almost impossible to recognize him in any other role. Whether he’s slimming down to play the quirky racer Ken Miles inFord v. Ferrari, padding on weight to play an inventive con artist inAmerican Hustle, practically starving himself to win an Academy Award for his role as a drug addict inThe Fighter, or wearing excessive makeup for his role as the former Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney inVice,Bale is known for his radical physical transformations. At the same time, some of the roles of his career relied purely on his acting abilities, includingThe Prestige, American Psycho,andThe Big Short.
Bale has become a favorite among directors like Christopher Nolan, Adam McKay, David O. Russell, and Scott Cooper, and even his worst films are generally worth watching; the disastrous Marvel sequelThor: Love and Thunderand the misguided historical taleAmsterdamare worth watching purely to see Bale’s performance. However, these underrated Christian Bale movies deserve more credit.
In the wake of the success he had teaming up with Steven Spielberg onEmpire of the Sun, Bale struggled with a natural hurdle that many young actors felt after a breakout role: what’s next?Newsiesmay not have been well reviewed at the time of its release, but it steadily became a cult favorite and even inspired a Broadway musical that collected many accolades during award season.
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7Equilibrium
While there were many imitators that attempted to capture the same kinetic action filmmaking ofThe Matrix,Equilibriumwas unique in its political and moral implications. What does a society suppressed of emotion look like, and how can justice be served without empathy? Bale proved himself as an action star a few years before he bulked up to play the caped crusader of Gotham City for the first time.
6Rescue Dawn
Werner Herzog’s 2006 masterpiece,Rescue Dawn, is one of themost grueling war filmsever made. Rather than observing traditional cliches about heroism and patriotism, the anti-war story focuses on a wounded American pilot who is captured by native Vietnam villagers and held in captivity. Bale shows the perseverance of a hero as he is tortured and starved in what is not an easy film to watch. Bale was so committed to the role that he actuallyworried about his safetyon set.
5I’m Not There
Todd Haynes’ inventive take on the life of legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan,I’m Not Thereis not a traditional biopic by any stretch of the imagination; rather than telling Dylan’s origin story as a simple “rags to riches” tale, Haynes examined how each of his personalities took shape. Bale joined the excellent supporting cast of Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw to play one version of Dylan. Of all the film’s segments, his role as “Pastor John” was the most interesting.
Related:10 Times Christian Bale Completely Transformed Himself for a Movie
4Out of the Furnace
Teaming up with Cooper became a great decision, andOut of the Furnacerepresented a creative high for them both. Bale is downright sensational as a troubled blue collar worker who investigates the disappearance of his brother (Casey Affleck) after he mysteriously disappears upon returning from wartime service.Richard Roepercalled it an “intense, violent, sometimes riveting story of the family ties that bond,” and named it the second best film of 2013; ironically, it placed just behind another Bale film,American Hustle.
3Exodus: Gods and Kings
Exodus: Gods and Kingscertainly invoked a great deal of controversy upon its debut, as any film dealing with such sensitive religious and historical material is ripe for criticism by historians, religious advocates, and film critics alike. While not the best of Ridley Scott’s historical epics,Exodus: Gods and Kingsworks as a brotherly drama when it centers on the rivalry between Moses (Bale) and Ramses (Joel Edgerton) as they vie for power.
Hostilesexplores the difficulty of the American west and the dynamic between Indigenous people and their oppressors. Whether there is any end to the cycle of violence isn’t something the film is willing to answer, but it does suggest that peace can be found between two disenfranchised soldiers who look to overcome a lifetime of killing. Bale stars as Captain Joseph J. Blocker, who is assigned the last mission of his career to escort the Cheyenne Chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) to his homeland to be buried in peace.
1The Pale Blue Eye
Bale’s most recent film,The Pale Blue Eyewas released in select theaters at the end of 2022 in order to view for Academy Award attention; while it sadly didn’t receive any significant recognition, Cooper’s latest historical epic is now widely available on Netflix. Bale stars as the investigator Augustus Landor in this spooky telling of Edgar Allen Poe’s (Harry Melling) origin story. It’s clear the influence that Bale’s character has on the conception of Poe’s classic “A Tell-Tale Heart.”
