When most actors enter their 60s, they largely resign themselves to the fact that their future will be based around supporting roles that don’t require much more from them than wearing suits and delivering exposition. Based on recent evidence, though, Michael Keaton didn’t get that memo.
The star turned may have turned 70 last month, but over the last few years he’s been dipping his toes into action-orientated cinema with increasing regularity, and it’s all set to culminate in November of next year when he suits up as Batman for the first time in 30 years as part of The Flash.
The RoboCop remake, Need for Speed, Spider-Man: Homecoming and American Assassin saw him playing in the pyrotechnic sandbox to various degrees, but it’s this year’s The Protégé that sees him deliver arguably his best turn in the genre.
Directed by GoldenEye and Casino Royale‘s Martin Campbell, Keaton stars as the shady Michael Rembrandt, who finds himself faced with the unstoppable threat of Maggie Q’s assassin Anna Dutton as she embarks on a revenge mission.
Despite the 28 year-age gap, the sparks between the pair are undeniable, with their crackling chemistry neatly punctuating a series of tense verbal exchanges and hard-hitting physical smackdowns. The Protégé sank without a trace in theaters after earning a little over $8 million at the box office, but it’s finding new life on streaming as one of the ten most popular titles on Amazon, as per FlixPatrol.