The Death of the Action Hero

The modern age of cinema really only has one real action hero. Gone are the eighties or nineties where seeing a name like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bruce Willis was enough to make a movie, and where box office returns could be guaranteed, simply due to the presence of a star. Those days have passed, and it is perhaps a good thing that they have, movie franchises are no longer based around a central charismatic figure, that would be too risky, instead they are based around brand; the Transformers franchise is a good example of this, the first three movies featured Shia LeBoeuf in a central role, but when he announced his reluctance to appear in another film, rather than simply give up on the franchise, in was continued with a different actor, Mark Wahlberg. We live in a world in which Hollywood action heroes are entirely disposable, no-one is irreplaceable, and no actor is instrumental to the success or failure of a movie, the names of actors are relegated to the small print of movie posters, to leave space for the logos and giant robots.

The only action hero left is Dwayne Johnson, he recently referred to himself as franchise steroids, and he was the highest grossing actor of 2013. He successfully revitalized GI Joe, the Fast and the Furious Franchise, and the Journey series. Johnson has, not only the brawn, but also the charisma and charm of action heroes of yore, and his box office draw is unparalleled. The only other possible candidate is Jennifer Lawrence, who really carries the entire Hunger Games franchise on her shoulders, and who is the franchise's greatest asset. Will Smith used to be one of the biggest action heroes of all time, and was consistently one of the industries biggest draws, however in 2013 we were delivered After Earth, a film with not one but two Smith's, and in short the film flopped both commercially and critically. A name is simply not enough to guarantee box office success anymore, and Fox, unwilling to pay Will Smith a ridiculous amount for his participation in Independence Day 2, has replaced him with another actor.

Action heroes are not what they used to, even those that still do matter don't have the charisma or charm that Schwarzenegger or Willis have, all one needs to become an action hero is a decent set of abs. Take the 300 franchise, Gerard Butler refused to return for the sequel, and he was replaced, in an industry beyond the Hollywood studio system, where stars are no longer signed to studios, studios are keen to sign actors up for multiple picture deals, and if they refuse, they're replaced. Movies have changed, and actors are too volatile to hold up a franchise on their own, so studios prefer to base their films around CGI robots and monsters, creating brands rather than characters.