Early reviews of ‘The Whale’ are in, and critics are absolutely loving Brendan Fraser

Brendan Fraser’s big return to cinema looks to be a brilliant one, as The Whale cops some strong reviews that particularly praise his performance.

After a tumultuous 15 years away from the mainstream, the world has been clamoring to see The Mummy star get his big return and it looks to be worth the wait. Debuting at Venice Film Festival, Darren Aronofsky’s latest flick got a six-minute standing ovation, which caused star Fraser to get very emotional.

It’s not just those at the screening who have high praise for Aronofsky’s film, with it sitting at an impressive 80 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Nearly every review singled out the performance of Fraser, with him a clear standout in the psychological drama.

Robert Ruggio, from AwardsWatch, cited Fraser as being paramount to the film’s successes, saying nobody else could’ve captured the role as well as him.

“The Whale wouldn’t be as effective if it wasn’t for the incredible lead performance given by Brendan Fraser…and I don’t think anyone could have played Charlie the way Fraser did.”

Fraser was meant to have two big releases in 2022, but his other film Batgirl was a victim of ruthless cuts at Warner Bros. and HBO Max. Batgirl’s lead Leslie Grace could still end up playing the role again, but there’s been no word on Fraser returning as Firefly.

Having just worked with Aronofsky, Fraser is now collaborating with none other than Martin Scorsese on Killers of the Flower Moon, which is expected to debut at Cannes in 2023. The Whale will get a widespread cinematic release in Dec. 2022 as awards season heats up.