Dave Bautistahas continued an unfortunate trend with his new movie that could necessitate a major pivot. The well-known actor got his start as a wrestler, signing with the WWE (which was known as the WWF at the time) in 2000 and performing under the name Batista. He began his onscreen career with an uncredited cameo as an unnamed wrestler in the 2006 comedyRelative Strangers, which starred Danny DeVito and Kathy Bates, eventually playing his first named character as the co-lead ofBacklot Murderswriter-director David DeFalco’s 2010 movieWrong Side of Town, opposite fellow wrestler Rob Van Dam.
Perhaps naturally, given his entry point into the industry, there have been manyDave Bautista action moviesover the years. This includes 2014’sGuardians of the Galaxy, which provided his breakout acting role as Drax, a character he reprised in two sequels and the later Marvel Cinematic Universe moviesAvengers: Infinity War,Avengers: Endgame, andThor: Love and Thunder. WhiletheGuardiansmovies have been well received, as was his James Bond movieSpectre, in which he played the assassin Mr. Hinx, his latest installment in the action genre underscores a problem that his career has had in recent years.
Every Sylvester Stallone / Dave Bautista Movie, Ranked
Sylvester Stallone and Dave Bautista have starred in three films together: Escape Plan 2, Escape Plan 3, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
The George R. R. Martin Adaptation Has Terrible Reviews
Bautista’s latest action movie,the George R. R. Martin fantasy epic adaptationIn the Lost Lands, has compounded a recent trend of bad action titles for the star.In the Lost Landsreviewshave earned the Paul W. S. Anderson movie, which also stars Milla Jovovich, a dismal Rotten Tomatoes score of 18% at the time of writing. Critics are panning almost every element of the movie, from the screenplay to the direction to the action itself.ScreenRant’s Alex Harrison even delivered potential viewers a dire warning, saying, “don’t waste your time.” Read a longer excerpt from his review below:
The script may be the film’s rotten foundation, but no one element can take all the blame for its emptiness. Director Paul W.S. Anderson’s visual approach and the breakneck pace support In the Lost Lands being structured as an unending stream of supposedly “cool” things, maybe 10% of which actually land that way. This is my first foray into Anderson’s work, so I can’t comment on how this fits with his personal style, but it felt to me like someone trying to copy Zack Snyder’s already middling homework and getting what he does do well totally wrong.
This continues a run of Rotten Tomatoes splatsthat Bautista’s action movies have earned in recent years. While he appeared in the Certified Fresh franchise installmentsGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3(82%) andDune: Part Two(92%), after the release of the latter title, which was nominated for five Oscars in 2025 and won two, he starred in a string of action movies that were rejected by critics. In addition toIn the Lost Lands, this includes the action-comedy sequelMy Spy: The Eternal City(23%) andThe Killer’s Game(46%), which reunited him withGuardiansstar Pom Klementieff.
In addition to being rejected by critics,The Killer’s Gamewas a box office flop, earning $5.9 million against its $30 million budget.
Even before this current downward trend, for every one of his well-reviewed action movie such asGuardians of the Galaxy(92%),Spectre(63%),Dune(83%), orBlade Runner 2049(88%), Dave Bautista starred in a Rotten title includingThe Man with the Iron Fists(51%),Kickboxer: Vengeance(41%),Stuber(43%), orEscape Plan 2: Hades(7%). Additionally, whilehe has never appeared in a movie that earned 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, he has starred in the 0% titleL.A. Slasher, though that was a horror-comedy rather than an action movie.
Even Dave Bautista Knows He Needs To Get Away From Making Action Movies
He Doesn’t Want To Be Typecast
Although he has taken on many movies in the genre over the course of his career, while speaking withPolygonin early 2025,Bautista admitted that “I don’t want to be an action star.”While continuing to express interest in portrayingA Farewell to Armsauthor Ernest Hemingway in a biographical drama, he rebelled against the idea of being boxed into a specific genre because of his size and his background. Read an excerpt from his interview below:
I also want people to feel like I’m a well-rounded actor and I could step into any world. I don’t want people to count me out of any genre and think that I wouldn’t work, I wouldn’t fit somehow… It’s weird — I know I easily fit into that [action] mold, but I really fought against it for years, and I turned down a lot of roles, because I just didn’t want to be stuck in that rut, and I wanted for people to see me outside of that box.
Nowadays, I’m less resistant, because I think I’ve proved my point, to a certain extent. And I do love action films. But they’re not at the top of my priority list. If I could find an independent film that wasn’t going to bring me a lot of money, but the role was super inspiring and would give me the opportunity to really challenge myself as an actor, I’d probably take that over the payday, over the big action film. I love to watch ’em, but they’re not my favorite films. My favorite films are independent dramas that really are inspiring.
While this quote shows that he has stopped trying to avoid taking on action roles, it also highlights the fact thatembracing other genres is a priority for the actorin the near future.
Dave Bautista’s Movie History Suggests Moving Away From Action Movies Is For The Best
Even though Bautista has not transitioned away from action movies entirely, he has already dabbled in quite a few other genresand generally been rewarded for it, both critically and commercially. His most recent showcase was a dramatic role in the Gia Coppola movieThe Last Showgirl, in which he starred opposite Pamela Anderson, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance. That movie earned an 83% score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is the best for a Bautista movie sinceDune: Part Two.
[Bautista] held a memorable role in Rian Johnson’s whodunit sequelGlass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery…
Other notable non-action successes for Bautista include the M. Night Shyamalan horror dramaKnock at the Cabin, which earned a 67% score in addition to grossing $54.8 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. He also held a memorable role in Rian Johnson’s whodunit sequelGlass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which hadthe biggest theatrical opening for a Netflix movie in historyat the time of its release, in addition to earning a Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 92%.
Dave Bautista Still Has Some Action Movies Planned After In The Lost Lands
Some See Bautista Dipping His Toe Into Other Genres
AlthoughIn the Lost Landshas continued this negative trend,Dave Bautista still has many genre projects coming soon. This includes the2025 action movieAfterburn, in which he stars as a post-apocalyptic treasure hunter opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Olga Kurylenko, the Hawaii-set buddy comedyThe Wrecking Crew, which stars him and Jason Momoa as half-brothers solving their father’s murder, and the dystopian sci-fi movieDreadnought, where he plays a father defending his dying daughter from alien invaders.
His upcoming action roster also includesan untitled Anne Hathaway action-comedy about an FBI wedding sting, and the movieTrap House, in which he stars as a DEA agent who works with his partner to stop their teenage children from committing a dangerous crime.
Trap House, which was directed byGoonandStuber’s Michael Dowse, also stars Jack Champion, Sophia Lillis, Kate del Castillo, Bobby Cannavale, and Blu del Barrio.
However, some upcomingDave Bautistamovies offer him new genres to play with, even if they may feature action elements. This includes theupcomingAang: The Last Airbender, an animated fantasy movie that is part of theAvatarfranchise, the classic reimaginingGrendel, in which he plays Beowulf, and the genre-bending Cate Blanchett movieAlpha Gang, about a group of alien invaders disguised as bikers.These titles could prove to be important transition pointsas he showcases his acting range within other genres and seeks out roles further from the action sphere.
