Adam Driver is the King of Commitment. The first time I saw him onstage in a Shaw play, I was convinced he was a floppy-haired Brit actor.
In terms of Action Movies That Made Me Feel, I really liked The Old Guard. I believed that team and their chemistry, and I deeply felt the melancholy of those almost indestructible warriors who never knew when their time would be up.
I feel like you could take the concept of a Fun Action Movie and broaden the scope to most major films nowadays--Musicals where the characters are embarrassed by their singing, comedies full of references to better comedies, sci-fi films where the characters use other sci-fi films to describe their predicament.
It’s as if the films and those involved are embarrassed to swing for the fences in case they whiff. This way they can say “it’s alright I wasn’t even trying, wait til I REALLY give it a shot!”
I think you have really good insight - I especially love the "action movies made by and for people who don't like action movies" piece here! But it also got me thinking about something I recently heard (on the Louise Perry podcast, actually) about the differences between the Millenial and Zoomer generations - how Millenials are really sincere and believe in commitment, while Zoomers tend to be very jaded and into irony (the swing between the Regency and the Romantics and the Victorians, to the Boomer/Gen X/Millenial/Zoomer oscillation seems very much in action here). So I think there may also be an attempt to reach "the youth" with all this irony and refusal to take things seriously.
I'm saying this with total sincerity and just generally speaking. Based on the thousands of words I've just binged of yours, I feel like we understand each other. I hope to someday soon work with you or someone like you. Your words feel like home.
COMMITMENT. This is an excellent point. We enjoy Action Movies and sports because of the stars’ unwavering commitment to the goal. Commitment also applies to things like writing an article about action movies. I was expecting to see a scathing list of Fun Action Movies to avoid, but likely the author wasn’t COMMITTED enough to go that far for fear of offending friends and peers. Perhaps Hollywood’s over reliance on the desire to NOT OFFEND anyone is also a contributing factor as to why Action Movies aren’t so fun anymore. If Furiosa wrote this article she’d name names of the people making crap action movies and that’s why she’s a compelling action hero. 🤙🏽
Totally agree about MI:Fallout. Hunt’s arc was key here for me and very interesting. He consistently sacrifices the fate of the world in order to save just one person. In this case he gives up plutonium BOMBs in exchange for his teammate’s life. (He can get the nukes back later, but not his friend’s life.)
And then the rest of the movie explores the battle with himself for acceptance (or rejection) of who he really is. Is it worth trying to relentlessly save the world at the cost of all his relationships?
Given the novel I'm about to start to write, this post is the best holiday gift. Novelty-commitment-intensity: exactly what I need to keep in mind. Plus everything else, specifically: have the characters start off jokey and self-aware, then turn serious (ironically, Iron Man's emotional arc). Thanks you so much.
They had a preview screening for Anyone But You here in Houston last night, and this exact conversation is what my partner and I were talking about on the way home...just changing it to RomComs instead of Fun Action Movies. A character that's overly savvy for the situation of the story is the death of audience buy-in. It kills charm. The atmosphere of a RomCom requires buoyancy, but uncreative filmmaking routinely mistakes lightness for thinness. On top of that, comedic filmmaking (and slapstick in particular) requires a certain approach to the camera and framing that Hollywood no longer imbues in its craftspeople. [This has been my consolidated review of your essay and Anyone But You.]
Bang on with regards the emphasis on ‘commitment’. Curious to know your thoughts about RRR featuring actors which are unknown to a global audience unlike Bruce Willis, Jackie Chan or Keanu.
Your article feels like an affirmation. My wife and I often remark after movie that we would’ve cried, laughed, been scared… If the character we were following, hadn’t done it for us. We’d rather experience that for ourselves.
Just watched Family Plan, and it was exactly that boring NBA game. Everyone was self-aware and laughing it up or being joking jocks in the most serious of times. So we scaled back our expectations of being emotionally involved (which also translates into not being invested in the characters.)
It’s just another mediocre scenic car ride we’ve been on before.
Thank you for your straightforward assessment of this genre. Let’s write something with fresh eyes!
Adam Driver is the King of Commitment. The first time I saw him onstage in a Shaw play, I was convinced he was a floppy-haired Brit actor.
In terms of Action Movies That Made Me Feel, I really liked The Old Guard. I believed that team and their chemistry, and I deeply felt the melancholy of those almost indestructible warriors who never knew when their time would be up.
I feel like you could take the concept of a Fun Action Movie and broaden the scope to most major films nowadays--Musicals where the characters are embarrassed by their singing, comedies full of references to better comedies, sci-fi films where the characters use other sci-fi films to describe their predicament.
It’s as if the films and those involved are embarrassed to swing for the fences in case they whiff. This way they can say “it’s alright I wasn’t even trying, wait til I REALLY give it a shot!”
I think you have really good insight - I especially love the "action movies made by and for people who don't like action movies" piece here! But it also got me thinking about something I recently heard (on the Louise Perry podcast, actually) about the differences between the Millenial and Zoomer generations - how Millenials are really sincere and believe in commitment, while Zoomers tend to be very jaded and into irony (the swing between the Regency and the Romantics and the Victorians, to the Boomer/Gen X/Millenial/Zoomer oscillation seems very much in action here). So I think there may also be an attempt to reach "the youth" with all this irony and refusal to take things seriously.
I'm saying this with total sincerity and just generally speaking. Based on the thousands of words I've just binged of yours, I feel like we understand each other. I hope to someday soon work with you or someone like you. Your words feel like home.
COMMITMENT. This is an excellent point. We enjoy Action Movies and sports because of the stars’ unwavering commitment to the goal. Commitment also applies to things like writing an article about action movies. I was expecting to see a scathing list of Fun Action Movies to avoid, but likely the author wasn’t COMMITTED enough to go that far for fear of offending friends and peers. Perhaps Hollywood’s over reliance on the desire to NOT OFFEND anyone is also a contributing factor as to why Action Movies aren’t so fun anymore. If Furiosa wrote this article she’d name names of the people making crap action movies and that’s why she’s a compelling action hero. 🤙🏽
Totally agree about MI:Fallout. Hunt’s arc was key here for me and very interesting. He consistently sacrifices the fate of the world in order to save just one person. In this case he gives up plutonium BOMBs in exchange for his teammate’s life. (He can get the nukes back later, but not his friend’s life.)
And then the rest of the movie explores the battle with himself for acceptance (or rejection) of who he really is. Is it worth trying to relentlessly save the world at the cost of all his relationships?
Given the novel I'm about to start to write, this post is the best holiday gift. Novelty-commitment-intensity: exactly what I need to keep in mind. Plus everything else, specifically: have the characters start off jokey and self-aware, then turn serious (ironically, Iron Man's emotional arc). Thanks you so much.
They had a preview screening for Anyone But You here in Houston last night, and this exact conversation is what my partner and I were talking about on the way home...just changing it to RomComs instead of Fun Action Movies. A character that's overly savvy for the situation of the story is the death of audience buy-in. It kills charm. The atmosphere of a RomCom requires buoyancy, but uncreative filmmaking routinely mistakes lightness for thinness. On top of that, comedic filmmaking (and slapstick in particular) requires a certain approach to the camera and framing that Hollywood no longer imbues in its craftspeople. [This has been my consolidated review of your essay and Anyone But You.]
Bang on with regards the emphasis on ‘commitment’. Curious to know your thoughts about RRR featuring actors which are unknown to a global audience unlike Bruce Willis, Jackie Chan or Keanu.
Your article feels like an affirmation. My wife and I often remark after movie that we would’ve cried, laughed, been scared… If the character we were following, hadn’t done it for us. We’d rather experience that for ourselves.
Just watched Family Plan, and it was exactly that boring NBA game. Everyone was self-aware and laughing it up or being joking jocks in the most serious of times. So we scaled back our expectations of being emotionally involved (which also translates into not being invested in the characters.)
It’s just another mediocre scenic car ride we’ve been on before.
Thank you for your straightforward assessment of this genre. Let’s write something with fresh eyes!