Mock me all you want. I am a Val Kilmer fan. Although well known, I believe he is one of the most underrated actors working today. Ever since I saw him in what I still think is the best spoof comedy movie of all time, Top Secret!, Kilmer has impressed me. He was solid as Ice Man in Top Gun (as a side note, did you ever see Kilmer on Saturday Night Live doing a scetch of “Ice Man – The Later Years”? Classic!). He was the lead in one of my favorite fantasy films (Willow), he impressed everyone in The Doors and Tombstone, he didn’t look out of place acting along side screen ledgends Al Pacino and Robert Deniro in Heat, he was a good Batman (even if the films weren’t that good), he was just fantastic in The Ghost and the Darkness and then showed he could just do voice acting as well in The Prince of Egypt.
Somewhere along the line Kilmer fell out of favor with Hollywood, and there are MANY whispers and rumors as to why that is. The other problem is that he made some very bad films in the last few years (Red Planet, At First Sight, The Saint). Put it all together and Kilmer has dropped out of sight for a while. Now he’s back in a leading role again with Spartan.
Not much has been writen about this film yet since it’s still almost a week away from release, but I think it’s doomed at the box office. Even with William H Macey in th cast, I don’t think Spartan can stand up againt The Secret Window, or the still dominant The Passion of the Christ. But I don’t care, I’ll be in line to see it.. I just hope it’s good enough to put Kilmer back in some good projects.
