Baftas 2022 review: host Rebel Wilson’s wrecking-ball comedy included one stone-cold clunker that drew boos

The return to normality after two years of lockdowns, social distancing and Zoom quizzes has been a shaky experience for many. And as the 2022 Baftas (BBC One) reverted to that dimly remembered tradition of red carpets, live audiences and celebrities sitting alongside one another pretending to laugh at each other’s jokes, it was clear that, if nature is healing, show business isn’t quite there yet.

It was an evening full of surprises and with some of the greatest talent in contemporary cinema rubbing elbows. And yet as 120 minutes of Sunday night television it was the equivalent of riding one of those huge worms in Dune. It was certainly an experience but there were lots of queasy moments to go along with the excitement.

As host, Rebel Wilson was no-holds barred in her determination to tickle ribs. And the Australian’s Tinseltown gumption allowed her to plough on when a gag wasn’t working – for instance, when she floundered through an interminable sketch in which she presented Benedict Cumberbatch with a cake baked in his image.

Wilson was game throughout and refused to be flustered as the groaners piled up. She joked about her dramatic weight loss since she last presented at the Baftas in 2020. There was a wisecrack about Cats, the song-and-dance shocker in which she starred and which was set to be the worst thing to happen in 2020 until Coronavirus snatched the crown.

She also took potshots at JK Rowling while simultaneously hailing Netflix for defying cancel culture (pssst, the streamer is releasing her latest film this summer). And yet her most resounding gesture was her simplest, with a speech about sign language movie CODA concluding with her waving a single digit in the direction of Vladimir Putin.

There was one stone-cold clunker – a quip about Will Smith’s marital woes that drew a stunned gasp and a few boos from the Royal Albert Hall. Wilson’s response was that Smith hadn’t bothered turning up to receive his Best Actor gong (for King Richard) and that he “couldn’t use Covid as an excuse anymore.”

Smith wasn’t the only no-show. An otherwise-engaged Jane Campion was unable to receive the awards for Best Director or Best Film (Cumberbatch and fellow cast and crew from The Power of the Dog did the honours). And the absent Paul Thomas Anderson left it to composer Jonny Greenwood and star Alana Haim to accept the Best Original Screenplay Bafta in his stead. Both were both massively awkward, though history was made as viewers saw a member of Radiohead smile in public for the first time since 1995.

Wilson’s wrecking-ball comedy made for an uneven tone. Her bit about the Cumberbatch cake, for example, flowed straight into a supremely serious Himesh Patel introducing the Best Supporting Actress nominees. It was as if the organisers were torn between the urge to turn the Baftas into 2022’s version of Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes – a sort of irreverent appetite-whetter for the Oscars – and the instinct to play it safe and sober.

Ultimately the event fell between these two gilded stools. Still, even as it flailed slightly there were lots of talking points. Andy Serkis, presenting Best Director, delivered an earnest, if laboured, criticism of Home Secretary Priti Patel. And Kenneth Branagh, accepting the Outstanding British Film Bafta for Belfast, made a plea on behalf of the silver screen. “All hail the streaming revolution – all hail the big screen too,” he said.

“It’s alive,” he added, perhaps suffering flashbacks to the time he thought it was a good idea to cast Robert De Niro as Frankenstein’s monster.

In a way Bafta only had itself to blame; the stunning Bond tribute with which proceedings opened left Wilson running to catch up. Marking the 60th anniversary of Bond on screen, Bafta had Shirley Bassey along to belt out Diamonds Are Forever. How strange that it took a song to remind you of the magic of cinema, but that’s exactly what it did. And after that gale-force set-piece, Wilson and the ceremony itself were condemned to come off as second best.