The Last Action Hero

[mrsl]

Since most action heroes today are cartoon or comic book characters, there aren't a lot to choose from. I understand Harrison Ford, grey hair and all is quite good again as Indiana Jones, but all the other action heroes have side kicks who are always there to help so no ONE guy stands out. Of the old guys, I always favored Chuck Norris. His MIA movies were full of action, and although high in the numbers, his Code of Silence remains in my top 200 movies. I think the reason I liked him was because he is SOOO SERIOUS. He rarely cracks a smile. At first I made fun of his TV show, but I admit I do watch it often nowadays. The old Texas Ranger is not as bad as I thought at first. Again Chuck is SOOO Serious but does crack a smile at the ending usually when he's having a beer with his girl friend, and old CD, also, the mind games he plays on his partner can be pretty amusing occasionally. Again, the action was fun with a good mix of gun play and judo or whatever it is he does between kick boxing and karate. The thing I do admire is that he really does know what he's doing having been a past champion in martial arts.

I've only seen Goldfinger so I'm no judge of 007 movies and never try to be. I fell asleep during From Russia with Love (?) so 007 is not my cuppa. Arnold was good, so was Sly, but nobody was better at getting the *^&%$ beat out of him and coming up with a smile was Bruce Willis. I've always devoured the Die Hard movies.

Am I wrong or is there some human being out there on the Silver Screen who is doing action work repeatedly, with sequels like Die Hard has, or simply an actor who continues in the Action adventure vein like Willis with 16 Blocks and Hostage?

Anne

[bryce]

Andy Lau might just be my current favorite action star, taking the reigns from previous favorite Chow Yun-Fat. As far as Western actors go, though, there just aren't as many willing to go where the East is willing to. The Japanese and the Chinese still have a sense of adventure - albeit very different from one another - that they're more than happy to indulge. Just like the Japanese still believe in this thing called "rock and roll."

Matt Damon blew away the action crowd with the Bourne series. They were amazing, but he doesn't seem intent on continuing down the action path. Nicolas Cage makes plenty of action films - they're mostly just awful. To be honest, I thought Dwayne Johnson was going to take over for Sly and Arnold, some sort of psychotic mutant combination of the two, but he sold out. We're in a bit of a transitional period right now - all the great action stars are underground, making mostly sci-fi or horror or the likes because it's cheap and easy. We'll have our hero (or villain) soon enough.

[MichiganJ]

For awhile Vin Diesel seemed to be the action-hero du jour, but he seems to be out of favor now (although, his latest Fast & Furious was a huge box office success, which means he may be back. That means more Chronicles of Riddick, I'm afraid--as long as the XXX series stays dead, we'll be okay.)

While he may not exactly be an "action hero", Clive Owen has been in a few "action" films (or dramas with action in them). Don't know if Sin City could count as action, but Owen did star in the goofy (but rather silly-fun) Shoot 'em Up.

The only full-blown action "actor" I can think of is Jason Statham. He has the Transporter series, as well as the Crank "series" (two, so far).

[bryce]

I thought about including Vin Diesel on the list but I've been very disappointed that he never used his star power to transform his good ideas into good movies. Clive Owen, on the other hand, is a spectacular actor, but really needs to stay away from the action flicks - I must be the only person on Earth that was bored to tears by Shoot 'em Up and his latest "action romp" with Julia Roberts makes me pine for the days of Roberts "retirement." Of course, the real shame here is that Clive Owen should have been Bond, not some politically correct blond hussy.

Thank you for pointing out Jason Statham though. I forgot about him, which is a shame because Transporter 2 and The Bank Job are excellent. I did enjoy Crank as well and want to see Crank 2, but I feel I have to qualify that: it's the stupidest type of awful fun and the films seem to intentionally be made for the "so bad it's good" crowd. I know they're supposed to be "videogamey" at the least. He's one of those few actors that is every bit as fun in an action role as he is in a comedic role - he's got great timing for both.

[klondike]

Nicolas Cage makes plenty of action films - they're mostly just awful.

Ah yes, Nic Cage; I had to use every iota of my self-restraint not to tramp-steamer my way to Europe and snipe him from off the parapets of his Bavarian castle, after renting his so-called "remake" of the celestial cult film The Wicker Man; aaarrgggh, my blood boilt for nearly 2 weeks over that !!
Thankfully, I managed to assuage my rage by recalling the enjoyment I'd derived in past years from The Rock, City of Angels, Con Air, Capt. Corelli's Mandolin, Gone in 60 Seconds & Leaving Las Vegas.
I agree with you pretty much about nearly all of his recent action films, and all of his "romantic comedies", though I think many might slip through with the gentler label of very disappointing, not that that regains any grace on their behalf.
But Bryce, have you checked his worst-reviewed film ever? I'm talking about last year's Bangkok Dangerous, which the critics trashed so energetically it got nominated for The Rotten Tomato List . . well, to h*ll with 'em all, I thought it was really good, in aquite unconventional way, which I found totally outside of any of Cage's grind-'em-out formulas. The film really has some genuinely noir, or at least upscale noirish, elements & themes, and evokes some too-seldom-seen acting craftsmanship from NC, with nicely solid support from his 100% non-Hollywood co-stars. Probably the only other films that I could readily compare it to would be Romeo is Bleeding, or Luc Besson's The Professional.
If you haven't looked at it yet, consider giving it a try . . if I'm wrong, I'll apologize.

[mrsl]

Well, beat me with a wet noodle, I don't know who Andy Lau is, but how could I forget Nick Cage and Vin Diesel? Actually, although this is about action heroes, I enjoyed The Pacifier so much, and laughed my buns off while watching, even though I could foresee what was coming, that movie is what turned me on to Vin. I thought if he could be so funny, maybe I should give The Fast and The Furious a shot, (the last hadn't been released yet), and I'm glad I did.

Nick Cage is another one who I pretty much like in most of what he does. I've seen many of his movies and have to admit I prefer him in the light romantic comedies, but Next is fast becoming one of my favorites of his. The old guy Bruce Willis is still doing it and I hope he continues for a couple of more years, as long as in the movie, he admits he's getting too old for some stuff.

Anne

[MichiganJ]

The best thing I ever saw Vin Diesel in was the short Buy My Film, in which Diesel "plays" an actor trying to get a job. It's a superb piece of self-promotion, which I think is what Speilberg saw and prompted his hiring for Private Ryan. His acting is better than the films I've seen him in. Hope that changes, but it doesn't look good.

Nick Cage is something, isn't he? Leaving Las Vegas and Con Air. (Of course, there is Wicker Man, as Klondike mentioned. Fortunately these eyes never gazed on that "master-piece of...")

Clive Owen as Bond is brilliant. I like the dark tone the new incarnation is taking (one of my favorite "old" Bonds was the Timothy Dalton License To Kill, with the plot centered on Bond's revenge. Carey Lowell is pretty sexy too). I don't mind Craig, but Owen would have brought that droll humor he has in nearly all of his films (most notably Sin City)

A few more names that may (or may not) be considered action heroes:

Wesley Snipes--The Blade series, and a lot of films from the 90's/ Recently his action films have gone direct to video (or, maybe, the IRS)

Milla Jovovich--she's in the Resident Evil series and Ultraviolet (as well as Dazed and Confused--but that's a good movie)

Christian Bale--aside from Batman, he was in films like Reign of Fire/Rescue Dawn/3:10 to Yuma/ and is in the new Terminator film

Angelina Jolie--well, of course she's Lara Croft, but she's also in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow/Mr. & Mrs. Smith (where she hooked up with Brad)/Beowulf/Wanted/Kung Fu Panda

Shia LeBeouf--Transformers (ugh) And the sequel (lest we forget this summer's sure-to-be blockbuster--double ugh)/ Indiana Jones and the whatever the name was....

Will Smith--started with Independence Day and Wild Wild West (which we should forgive him for)/Men In Black/I, Robot and the recent Hancock.