Before I forget, I’ll do a quick post on the bad… which was, unfortunately, Dan Hoy’s Raoul
I have seen two other Raouls in Masquerade that were spectacular, especially considering how small the role is in Masquerade. They managed to balance their Christine’s perfectly, being protective, loving, caring, just very well matched in their performances. And you got the feeling they loved her and would die for her.
Dan’s Raoul was, uh… Look, he was acting like he had bodies hidden under the baseboards at home. Not sure if he was given the wrong character description because he played Raoul as a villain. Which listen, I’m okay with that for Masquerade, as it is the Phantom’s viewpoint and therefore Raoul is the “villain” but… you’ve still gotta believe Christine is better off with Raoul by the end. And you’ve at least got to believe Raoul loves and would die for Christine.
I did not believe Dan’s Raoul loved Christine. In the very first scene with Christine, he is INSUFFERABLE and acts as if he’s procuring a mistress for the evening, not meeting with his childhood sweetheart. He treats her like an object more than the Phantom which is WILD. Honestly he was more motivated by the idea of killing/capturing the Phantom. He had these serial-killer grins he would do, and when he delivered the “this time, my clever friend, the disaster will be yours!” line, it was VILLAINOUS. I mean he played it like he wanted to tie the phantom to a rack and torture him.
I genuinely believed Sean’s phantom was the better choice by comparison. Yeah he’s got a lot of baggage and dead bodies but at least he loves Christine? I’m not even sure why Dan’s Raoul was engaged with her at all. He spoke rudely to her, was dismissive, there was no love. In a teen romance movie, he would’ve been the rich jerk the girl is with before she discovers the soft, sweet nerd she breaks up with him for at the end.
I have zero doubt Dan’s Raoul would’ve had multiple mistresses just one week after his marriage to Christine. I have no doubt he would’ve been a horrible husband. Maybe Dan Hoy was trying to set up Love Never Dies?
Anyway, I’m okay with the idea of Raoul being the villain in the Phantom’s mind, but he needs to be more excited at the prospect of marrying Christine than of capturing the phantom. The only time he showed excitement was when he talked about catching the phantom. Genuinely.
Dan’s voice was good, though. And he’s handsome… that’s about it. I’d love to hear other’s thoughts, and I dearly hope he improves, or that it was just me that has this opinion. I’m happy to be proven wrong!
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