Just in time for Summer Blockbuster Season and the impending release of "The Expendables 2", Sylvester Stallone decided he was going to open his mouth.
All jokes aside about how the guy is less intelligible than Brad Pitt in "Snatch", Stallone came out and said in a recent interview and said that the recent barrage of superhero movies is detracting from the "real action movies" with everyday men rather than men with extraordinary powers, and sees the genre is, and I quote, "fading away".
Okay. So the days of "Die Hard" and "Rambo" are slowing down, but calling the action movie a dying breed is a bit of a stretch. Here's why...
1. A Rose By Any Other Name...
Remember the good ol' days when an action film was just an action movie? Comic book/superhero movie. Sci-fi movie. Bruce-Willis-blows-the-hell-out-of-a-group-of-East-Euro-terrorists movie. It never used to matter. If shit is blowing up and catch phrases are flying, it's an action movie. That's. It. So, it's a been a few years (5 to be exact) since the fourth "Die Hard" movie, and the last "Rambo" film came and went with little to no fanfare.
Let's, for argument's sake, forget that seven superhero movies have come out during the last five years...
(And, for the record, I'm not counting "Punisher: War Zone" and "The Dark Knight" because, hey, Stallone bitched about men with extraordinary powers. Batman and the Punisher, having only an array of wonderful toys and a full arsenal of BFGs (hint: the B means big, the G means guns) respectively, they are just men.)
Not only did you have "Live Free or Die Hard", but you had "The Hunger Games", both installments of Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes", "Avatar" [shudders], "The Surrogates" (with Bruce Willis), the fourth "Indiana Jones" installment, "Eagle Eye", "Inception", "The Town", "Red" (again with Bruce Willis), the first "Expendables", and a slew of others. I'd list them all, but I believe you get my point.
2. (Perhaps) An End Of An Era
Maybe it's not that Stallone is meaning the action film is coming to an end, but rather action films starring the classic action stars of the yester-years. He did, in the same interview, mention "And then you have a bunch of us which is just your basic male-pattern badness...".
Here's the problem...those guys...are just getting older. And worse yet, they're looking older. Harrison Ford is going to be 70 this year. 70 for hell's sake! Steven Segal. Chuck Norris. Jean-Claude Van Damme. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hell, even Mel Gibson. Who the hell really wants to see any of these clowns anymore? Sure, Segal was in "Machete" in 2010 and Chuck Norris is going to be in "The Expendables 2", but let's be honest with ourselves.
Many of the big-time action film stars are turning away from action films. Al Pacino has been doing more drama and thrillers, and Robert DeNiro has been in more comedies than action films. Jackie Chan would rather do "Kung Fu Panda" and "The Karate Kid" then another true martial arts movie. Jet Li doesn't really do his own stunts anymore (look at the credits). Wesley Snipes is in jail. Patrick Swayze...well, he's dead, so we can't hold that against him. Hell, even Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe are going to be in "Les Miserables".
Really, the only action star from the 80s is Bruce Willis, and, yes, his "male-pattern badness" is equal only to his male-pattern baldness. Out of all the classic action stars of his generation, he's the only one who has managed to stay relevant by staying (gasp) in shape and starring in (bigger gasp) good movies. He hasn't played John McClane in every movie. Nay, Willis has branched out, and has, not only the final installment of "Die Hard" coming out next year, but "Red 2", "Looper", and "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" coming out later this year or next. Can Stallone brag about this? I do not think so.
3. The Geek Has Inherited The Earth
These are extraordinary times, and so, Mr. Sly, we need extraordinary men. And comic book movies have offered us live versions of classic extraordinary men who can bridge the gap between generations. Kids have loved comic books for decades. Then those kids have kids of their own, who read comic books. And so on and so forth.
The box office is not being dominated by testosterone-fueled anymore. It's being fueled by intelligent action films and comic book movies. Look at this year alone. The top-grossing films in 2012 have been "The Avengers" and "The Hunger Games" -- a comic book movie and an adaptation of a best-selling novel (that didn't feature sparkly vampires). Action films with reasonable substance. By the end of the Summer, we will see "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "The Dark Knight Rises", which will all be fighting for top supremacy at the box office. Sadly, "The Expendables" may have to settle for the popcorn kernals of the box office after all the bigger pieces are taken by these comic adaptations.
Look, we're in harsh times in America. When we go to the movies, we need a full escape from reality. How the hell are we supposed to forget about the current state of affairs when even the action films are steeped in reality? It's a lovely thought, but, really, it's the thought that the extraordinary exists that will get people through. So it's these extraordinary heroes like "Spider-Man" and "The Avengers" that not only entertain, but give people hope.
So, Mr. Stallone, rest assured. action movie will never die. You can blow up and set fire to anything, but, in the end, action movies will rise from the ashes like a great phoenix and soar to great heights and, often times, great box office tickets. As long as the story is compelling and the acting is great, people will come to see your explosions. If not...well...you can always start making comedies again. Talk to Schwarzenegger. He knows what I'm talking about.
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