Image via Complex Original
When you look around the multiplex today, you see a roster of action heroes that look nothing alike. When you went to see an action flick in the ’80s or ’90s, no matter who was starring in the film, you saw the same oiled pecks belonging to a tall, dark, and generally silent square-jawed white male. The prototypical action hero in those days rose up from the ranks of bodybuilding, martial arts, and B-movies to seize their moment basking in the glow of exploding high-rises.
Today’s action heroes are defined by their difference. Not only do they look nothing like one another, but they come from wildly differing backgrounds. 2014’s action heroes come from some strange places indeed. If at the dawn of the 21st century, you predicted that the next batch of action stars would come from films like Ghost World, Schindler’s List, Chaplin, and Good Will Hunting, you would have been laughed out of the comment thread. A look at the world of today’s action movies, with its rich variety of performers, offers some interesting lessons about the action genre, film, and the world around us. Here are 10 Lessons to Learn From the Next Generation of Action Heroes.
Jason Statham
Lesson: Working class heroes can be action heroes.
Given the mountains of movies that Jason Statham has put out into the market place over the last decade, it’s easy to forget his relatively humble cinematic beginnings. Statham first graced our big-screens as a small time crook peddling stolen goods in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Though we’re many years and many films removed from that rollicking Guy Ritchie piece, Statham has maintained an aura of working class charm throughout his career. Slate’s Judy Rosen wrote about Statham’s blue-collar appeal back in 2009, and her thesis has held true in the intervening years. She wrote, “[Statham] has an underdog appeal, coming across as a harried Everyman even as he performs superhuman feats of ass-kicking.” She went on to list films where he played “a regular guy,” which it turns out is almost all of them. While many action heroes of the past and present look and feel like they are one of a kind, almost godlike, Statham’s charm lies in the feeling that he’s someone who might have worked as a bouncer at your local bar or tried to sell lifted wares on the corner before getting into this whole action hero business.
Liam Neeson
Lesson: Age ain’t nothing but a number.
Most old action stars used to be young action stars. More often than not, the muscular young men of blockbusters age into more serious fare as their looks fade and they sharpen their dramatic chops. Neeson’s career has taken the opposite trajectory. Like a blockbuster Benjamin Button, he has moved from kind of films that win Academy Awards to the kind of films that finance yachts and make you not care terribly much about not winning Academy Awards. He moved from film’s titled with people’s names you’ve never heard of (Rob Roy, Ethan Frome, Michael Collins) to film franchises that barrel on forever (Batman, Taken). It’s unclear what path Neeson’s career will take next, but we are willing to wager it will surprise us.
Jennifer Lawrence
Lesson: You can do it all.
One of the greatest dangers an actor faces is being typecast. No actors were as susceptible to this as action heroes of the past. Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, and Jean-Claude Van Damme always stuck to what they were best at. Even industry titans like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger have rarely been called upon to play against type in their long and formidable careers. Though she is only 23, Jennifer Lawrence has found a way to get tapped for a wide variety of parts across the genre spectrum.
Silver Linings Playbook is a far cry from X-Men. American Hustle doesn’t share much in common with The Hunger Games. Yet, J-Law is ubiquitous; she seems to show up in any move she damn well pleases. The reason for this is that she is, in many ways, the perfect actress for this era. The calculus of becoming a movie star has changed. No longer can you coast through one genre for decades and enjoy unmitigated movie stardom. Increased demand for high-grossing films with hefty international receipts means that the new breed of movie star has to appeal to a number of niche audiences. This means that a star who has rom-coms, indies, action films, and horror films under their belt is an asset when in the past they would have been a brand liability. Before Hollywood would ask, “Yes, but who are they?” Today, Hollywood wants an actor who is everything at once.
We all know that the Internet loves Jennifer Lawrence. We should remember that this love was hard won. She went out there and found a part in every kind of movie imaginable until every segment of the web (besides the trolls of course) was appeased. Now she gets to reap the rewards of doing absolutely anything she damn well pleases.
Matt Damon
Lesson: Audiences are ready for a thinking man’s action hero.
Though Matt Damon was an unlikely action hero, the Bourne franchise which helped him become a professional ass-kicker, is an unlikely action franchise. The Bourne films have stood out from the crowd as action movies for serious film lovers. Though they have been wildly popular among multiplex goers, they have also received a critical cache that many action franchises could only dream of. The studied cinematography, the sophisticated themes, and the moments of honest performance lift the Bourne films beyond your standard action fare. It only makes sense that an actor with a legitimate dramatic pedigree would be tapped to anchor this franchise. Though at first it seemed a bit odd to see the star of Good Will Hunting and The Talented Mr. Ripley become as an action hero, looking back on his days as Jason Bourne, we realize that rarely are an actor and a franchise better suited to each other than they were in these films. With recent turns in both Behind the Candelabra and Elysium, it seems that the intellectual Matt Damon and the action hero Matt Damon will continue to co-exist in a way that only a man with his looks and his talent could pull off.
Scarlett Johansson
Lesson: Indie darlings can grow up to be action heroes.
Scar Jo began her career getting nominated for Independent Spirit Awards. Manny & Lo, Ghost World, and Lost in Translation don’t exactly feel like the kind of pedigree that will lead to blockbuster stardom. Yet, now that Johansson has cemented herself in the Marvel universe, her titles have taken a decidedly big budget turn. Scarlett has already completed three superhero movies and a fourth is on the way. In the upcoming Luc Besson film Lucy, she will continue her feats of superhuman strength, playing a character who makes the most of her brain capacity. Fear not, those of you who first fell in love with indie darling Scar Jo: films like Chef, Her, and Don Jon let us know that she hasn’t forgotten her roots.
Tom Cruise
Lesson: A career can truly last forever.
Though many action stars have enjoyed long runs, their careers often ebb and flow. Stallone, Arnold, and the rest had their heyday, then their resurgence, then their renaissance. Though Tom Cruise has had some duds, he returns to the top of the box office heap with regularity. He is the Hollywood Energizer Bunny. He just keeps smiling and running and smiling and running. How does he continue to own the hearts and minds of the movie-going public? Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman recently offered some insight. He said, “Nobody takes the trust of the audience more sacredly than him.” When talking about sports we love to throw around meaningless phrases like “first one in and last one out of the locker room” and “he just loves the game.” It seems that if athletes can only hope to live up to these platitudes, as an actor, Tom Cruise does. His tireless work ethic and dedication to even the flimsiest of premises has earned him a title that is as cliché as the Hollywood sign and the casting couch. Maybe Tom Cruise is actually “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business.”
Mark Wahlberg
Lesson: Don’t give a f***.
It is customary for action characters not to give a damn what other people think. It is a totally different thing for an A-list Hollywood actor not to care. Mark Wahlberg treats his career like your dad’s semi-employed roofing buddy. That is to say he isn’t going to let anybody tell him what to do. In 2012, The New York Times’ Adam Sternbergh pointed out that given the amount of prestige films Wahlberg has appeared in, he should actually have more than the two Oscar nominations he’s received. (Yeah, we didn’t realize he’s been nominated twice either.) While he was getting roles in prestige films, Wahlberg wasn’t afraid to take a part in a big budget action film or a silly comedy, and perhaps this flexibility cost him some level of prestige himself. Now that he has become a full-on action star, Wahlberg isn’t afraid to take on films like Ted or Pain & Gain that don’t exactly paint him as a hard-boiled tough guy. Even in his personal life, Wahlberg is relentlessly true to himself. Though you may not agree with his outspoken conservative views, you have to admire the man for speaking his mind.
Will Smith
Lesson: Leave the kids out of it.
Though Will Smith himself seems unflappable, we can’t say the same for his kids. Jaden and Willow have not only been looking ridiculous on Twitter, they have had a hand in Smith’s slowly fading credibility. Though After Earth made money somehow, his co-starring effort alongside son Jaden earned him a Razzie Award. The Karate Kid, which Smith produced, also made a boatload of money despite being a remake that no one asked for and was met with critical indifference. Though you have to respect a family man, we would love to see a little more I Am Legend or Men in Black and a little less tweets like this coming from the Smith clan.
Dwayne Johnson
Lesson: The old model still works.
In a Hollywood filled with unconventional action stars, Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. The Rock) is proving that if it ain’t broke it may not actually need to be fixed. There is a long history of strongmen becoming actors. Of course Arnold Schwarzenegger comes to mind, but he is just one of many body builders, professional wrestlers, and martial artists to make the transition to the big screen. From Lou Ferrigno to Jean-Claude Van Damme, for many, the path to movie stardom has gone through the gym. It’s fitting that Johnson is stepping into the sandals of Hercules for his next franchise. The character has been a fixture in cinema culture for the last decade, having seen over a dozen different iterations. In an era where action heroes are being plucked from sitcoms, the indie film circuit, and tear-jerking historical dramas, Dwayne Johnson is as close to a traditional action star as any of the prototypical cinema strongmen of the past.
Robert Downey Jr.
Lesson: There’s nothing wrong with being a smart ass.
The strong, silent type has been the preferred mode of action star over the years. Sure, from time to time the leading man in an action movie gets a killer joke that they can utter as they stride away from an exploding building, but that is the exception that proves the rule. Then came Iron Man. Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Tony Stark has been anything but silent. The relentless sarcasm that he offers while in the red-and-gold suit feels right at home with the kind of smartasses he played in films like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Wonder Boys. We should be forever grateful to Robert Downey Jr. for teaching Hollywood that we are cool with action heroes jawing away at us with one-liners instead of emoting through raised eyebrows and clenched teeth.