Review on "Clayface"

I think we were all rooting for Clayface until the very end when he killed Dr. Bates' fiance, John Borrelli, that the audience saw how evil Clayface was. Everything Matt Hagen had done up until that moment seemed justified. His vengeance kills didn’t feel so malicious because all those people had hurt him. But getting revenge for what happened was only making his anger stronger. Hagen's new found powers were becoming uncontrollable and dangerous. 

Clayface and Matt Hagen are one, but I do think Clayface takes over Hagen's body. We see this when he kills Frank Fitzpatrick, his former financial advisor who stole all his money. You can tell Hagen had guilt for what he did and never meant to kill Frank, but it was too late to go back. Everything we see about Hagen's life in this film makes us like him or some even can relate. He wasn’t truly a bad guy in the beginning. He was just profoundly damaged. This is why I also understand why Dr. Caitlin Bates helped him. Dr. Bates was an extremely relatable character for me. 

She was empathetic to Hagen's suffering and wanted to do something impactful. In her own way, Dr. Bates was just as broken as Clayface. They both had their dreams crushed, taken from them without any warning. Dr. Bates was no longer able to work on the medical study that was supposed to save people like her late brother. She had her work stolen and her dreams destroyed by people more powerful than her. Hagen was no different. The only thing that separated them was that Hagen ultimately wanted payback for all the pain he had endured. 

At first he might have only wanted his dashing good looks back, but when he saw what he could do as Clayface, everything changed. We see this in the scene where Hagen injects himself with more of the AI-fueled nanoparticles in a desperate attempt to fix his face. He was an actor, of course, and his attractiveness was what paid the bills. Clayface wasn’t always a monster, but by the end of the movie that is what he became. He was no longer someone the audience could relate to. Hagen had gone too far this time, and because of this he will live in exile while mourning what could have been.