Karl Urban

 

One of my favorite actors these days comes from New Zealand, and he’s…. KARL URBAN. 

 Lord of the Rings.  The #1 prince of Rohan is Eomer, pretty much a hero like Aragorn.  This was one of Urban’s first major roles.  I’ll have to watch this again…

 Dredd.  After Stallone did a heroic job in the first movie – but botched the whole thing by taking his helmet off, a big no-no for Judge Dredd (possibly a secret Mandalorian) Urban got it right by keeping his helmet ON for the entire film.  Sadly, Urban himself notes there are no current plans for a sequel.

 McCoy.   When they rebooted the Star Trek movies with a new, younger cast taking the roles of the Original Series Characters, Urban got the role of “Bones” McCoy, the ship’s doctor, originally played by DeForrest Kelley.  Bones was easily the most cynical of the crew members and usually at odds with Spock, though their rivalry was mostly friendly.  As with all his other portrayals, he nailed this one. 

 The Boys.  Season 2 done, Season 3 on its way.  This is a series which takes the premise of “superheroes gone wrong” – who protects us if the superheroes themselves turn out to be villains?  Urban plays Butcher, the #1 guy leading the team of otherwise ordinary (but highly skilled and determined) humans bumping ugly with Homelander, Stormfront, and the rest of the not-quite-so good superheroes.   Count on his usual gruff demeanor, and I’m even hearing a quasi Australian accent – whatever passes for a New Zealand accent, not that I can tell the difference – in this role. 

 RED.  “Retired, Extremely Dangerous” describes Bruce Willis’ character, kind of John McClane on steroids.  Urban is in here too – but don’t ask me what he does.  I’ll have to watch this again.

 He’s also in Riddick, but as a minor character too insignificant to watch the whole film just for his sake.  Moreover, Vin Diesel has yet to make a movie I’ve enjoyed seeing. 

 In a sense, Urban is taking many roles we might attribute to Clint Eastwood were he not too old for these.  However, I haven’t seen him in any westerns, spaghetti or otherwise, nor have I seen him with an orangutan (do they have kangaroos in New Zealand, or is that only in Australia?).  I imagine he’s overdue for a more light-hearted role – in fact, a comedy.  I get the impression that he doesn’t click with comedy roles and told his agent to steer him clear thereof (though not in a position to say that based on any actual evidence beyond my subjective thoughts) but his clear wit seems to be underexploited in all these dramas and action films.  Karl, if you’re reading this, give it a thought…..