I've worked on a set with Craig before, and I found him entirely unpleasant to be around with how he was talking to the crew. I was just an extra so quietly backed away. But it was enough of a lasting impression to make me actively avoid anything he is a part of.
Bored, surfing Netflix, the streaming service started playing a scene from Villain and I rolled my eyes hard. Here we go, another "Craig is a hard-man" film but... Watching the scene play out, his acting was decent. It wasn't the same old, same old we have come to expect from him. Sure there are scenes where we get the same Craig we see in every other production he is in but there's enough "new" acting from him that it keeps you pulled along.
And just as well because, as much as it pains me to say it, it IS Craig who carries this film. The other actors are good, don't get me wrong, but they're screen time is considerably shorter. They are all believable and flesh out the small part of the world we're shown but, they don't hang around for long. Then we are left with the story; something we have seen a million times before.
In summary: guy gets out of prison, vowing to never go back. His brother is in trouble with local criminals and, so, Craig is pulled back into the seedier side of life. That it is. Nothing original here but it is, at least, done well. Shots are nice, colour grading gritty, sound decent enough and Craig really pulls it all along.
Will I watch it again? No. Does it make me change my mind about what I've seen of Craig? Not a chance. But it did at least show me that while he might be hot-headed on set, at least there is some range there.
