So he quickly appears in the movie as half comedic relief, half self-centered jerk who we are supposed not to like (at least at first). However, while he absolutely is very much into himself and gives away a vibe of "I do what I want because I am the star, not you," he actually is... the best?
First, he volunteers to participate in the expedition to save Ann (he could have easily stayed on the ship, claiming that he is not a fighter, just an actor).
Second, he makes a lot of sense: after the dinosaur debacle and losing four men, he says they should just cut their losses and go back. While the movie would end here if the crew listened to him, in a real-life situation, he would be absolutely right: they have no idea where to go, just encountered literal dinosaurs that tried to eat them, and have no idea what other dangers could populate the island. And for all they know, Ann is (very likely to be) dead. He genuinely tried to help, but it would simply be absurd to keep going.
Third, he comes back after reaching the (relative) safety of the boat, and tells the remainder of the crew to go with him help the others! He saw the craziness of what happened, he almost died, but he wants to go back, when it would have been perfectly reasonable to just stay on the ship.
Oh and finally, we possibly have a glimpse at his seemingly good character, despite his (apparent) self-absorbness, when he comments that "Heroes don't look like me - not in the real world. In the real world they got bad teeth, a bald spot, and a beer gut. I'm just an actor with a gun who's lost his motivation." Not only does it demonstrate common sense and realism (also demonstrated when he wants to go back to the boat after genuinely trying to rescue Ann), but I believe, a sense of appreciation for these "unsung" heroes. Even if he does not actually care about them, he certainly does not claim to be one.
Bruce Baxter is the kind of character I really enjoy watching in movies: seemingly bad or an asshole, but actually good (or at the very least, interesting enough not to be "plain bad"). Is he self-absorbed? He sure seems to be. Is he arrogant? Possibly. But, to me, the rest of what we see of him makes me think he is definitely more of a good guy. To me, the character is more rich than the stereotypical good guy meant to be represented by more-or-less-one-dimensional Jack Driscoll. Just like in real life, you can have flaws, be annoying, or even be somewhat of a jerk, while still actually being a good person.
EDIT: I also noticed that, when Ann comes back with Jack, he is one of the few to actually look at her, instead of focusing on Kong approaching. I don't know if that is what Peter Jackson was going for, but to me it shows that he actually did care about her and actually wanted to rescue her, as opposed to using her as bait to lure Kong and get money/fame.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/13290ig/in_peter_jacksons_king_kong_bruce_baxter_is_the/
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