Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a slow-aged Gouda of an actor: smooth on the surface, deceptively warm, with hard crystals of steel running through every role. He shifts register without strain, and he rarely announces what he is doing.
Start with Nowhere Boy. As John Lennon, Taylor-Johnson carries the weight of a man not yet famous, restless and searching, and he finds the loneliness in that restlessness without ever playing it for sympathy. Kick-Ass asked him to be uncertain and brave at once; Dave Lizewski is a kid in over his head, and Taylor-Johnson plays the fear as something he cannot quite hide. Nocturnal Animals is the proof of the steel. A drifter who destroys without blinking, and Taylor-Johnson keeps him perfectly still, dangerous in his quietness. Tenet swapped the violence for pure focus, a man following orders through incomprehensible chaos, and he never let the audience feel lost because he never looked lost.
He melts into ensemble work as easily as he carries a film. Godzilla buried him under rubble and giant monsters, but he grounded it. Avengers: Age of Ultron gave him less screen time and he made every moment count. The Fall Guy and Bullet Train showed he could move through action without ever losing the precision. Taylor-Johnson knows exactly how much to show and how much to hold back. Like the best aged cheeses, he rewards the patience of a long look.
Highest rated review
Ray Marcus
Nocturnal Animals
2016
7/7cheeses
last week
Perfectly disgusting and evil! I have never seen an actor embody a villain like Taylor-Johnson did here. Constantly thinking back on and revisiting this performance - and would genuinely be afraid to come across the character of Ray even in a brightly lit busy alley. His character has one of the best jumpscares I’ve ever seen in a movie period (and this isn’t even a horror movie!). Excellency all around and a masterclass in embodying a character.
