3 ms·

Down to earth is the key I think. So many action films these days are "save the world" or some sort of incredibly over the top world-changing maguffin. Just a g

Down to earth is the key I think. So many action films these days are "save the world" or some sort of incredibly over the top world-changing maguffin. Just a guy trying to escape going to prison for a crime he didn't commit is infinitely more relatable that it makes a massive train derailment seem down to earth.

runarberg 4y ago
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent just came out this year. The plot was a bit over the top, but that was the point, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Blackkklansman came out the same year as this article, and even though it was more comedy drive then most action movies, it had a down to earth plot of a black policeman infiltrating the KKK organization. I agree that most action movies today have a pretty seen-it-before grandiose plot. But movies with down-to-earth original plots still come out (occasionally).
- bryanrasmussen 4y ago
  And Blackkklansman was based on a true story, so seems more grown-up somehow than The Fugitive.
- Zanni 4y ago
  If you enjoyed The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, you might also like JCVD [0] with Jean-Claude Van Damme. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JCVD_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JCVD_(film)
aerique 4y ago
Oh absolutely! This has been a major annoyance in, mostly, superhero movies. The first movie they're growing up, maybe getting rid of a city's villain. The next movie they're saving the universe. (And in the third they're traveling back through time.) Jesus, have some pacing.
- donatj 4y ago
  This was my EXACT thought seeing the second Captain America. Taking down all of Shield/Hydra should have been an Avengers movie, not the job of a single dude. Should have been a much more down to earth story about him adjusting to modern day, getting his groove back and taking on some minor baddie.
  - thehappypm 4y ago
    Oof. I think that was one of the best Marvel movies. It had a different type of tone — more James Bond-ey and I really liked it
newsclues 4y ago
We live in an era devoid of authenticity or reality.
- api 4y ago
  I blame comic book movies and a generation raised on them. Comic book movies are also "ur fascism." They feature utterly paper thin heroes who are just good and paper thin villains that are either just bad or have caricatured motives. Thanos with his genocidal malthusianism is about as high-brow as this stuff gets. I don't think it's a coincidence that the generation raised on these has been softened up for puerile political zealotry (of various stripes) in adulthood. Go back and watch an action flick like Die Hard. Such movies were considered lowbrow when they were made but that film contains some extremely complex characterization and nuance compared to 90% of comic book films.
  - newsclues 4y ago
    I blame the news, and the propaganda they have been pumping out for decades.
  - stoxascer 4y ago
    IMO a bigger aspect is just the exhaustion of the artistic medium itself and exhaustion of creative talent. I think we tend to view the major artistic mediums that we are born into as something eternal when in reality they get stale. Whatever can be said about movies I am sure people were saying 50-100 years ago about paintings. Or think about the last great sculpture? The same thing with movies has happened with music. The LP was nothing until the 1950s but it feels like something eternal. Creative people move on to newer mediums that are a blank canvas so to speak. Youtube, Tiktok, podcasts, long series TV. I think as you age obviously it becomes harder to impress just from having consumed so many masterpieces of artistic expression. You have a much higher tolerance for amazement. I think superhero movies are totally unwatchable but I am sure this would be different if I was starting closer to a blank slate when it comes to movie expectations. I love mob movies but there is no grand comment on society that caused all these mob movies to have been made outside a type of fashion trend.
throw0101a 4y ago
> Down to earth is the key I think. So many action films these days are "save the world" or some sort of incredibly over the top world-changing maguffin. Ran across this observation with regards to Die Hard: the first two movies had McClain as basically a beat cop who gets in over his head. The latter movies he's almost a superhero.
- mangamadaiyan 4y ago
  I thought the one with Jeremy Irons as Hans Gruber's brother in it (don't remember which part of the series this was) wasn't too bad either. TBH, I'd watch that one more for Irons' performance than anything else, so your point probably still stands.
- rayiner 4y ago
  That makes me realize another aspect I hate about modern movies. In the first Die Hard, McClain was suffering. That scene where he walks across broken glass, and then limps around the rest of the movie. It might not have been realistic, but at least it conveyed how hard and tiring it is to fight. That is totally absent from modern action movies.

runarberg 4y ago

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent just came out this year. The plot was a bit over the top, but that was the point, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Blackkklansman came out the same year as this article, and even though it was more comedy drive then most action movies, it had a down to earth plot of a black policeman infiltrating the KKK organization. I agree that most action movies today have a pretty seen-it-before grandiose plot. But movies with down-to-earth original plots still come out (occasionally).

bryanrasmussen 4y ago
And Blackkklansman was based on a true story, so seems more grown-up somehow than The Fugitive.
Zanni 4y ago
If you enjoyed The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, you might also like JCVD [0] with Jean-Claude Van Damme. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JCVD_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JCVD_(film)

aerique 4y ago

Oh absolutely! This has been a major annoyance in, mostly, superhero movies. The first movie they're growing up, maybe getting rid of a city's villain. The next movie they're saving the universe. (And in the third they're traveling back through time.) Jesus, have some pacing.

donatj 4y ago
This was my EXACT thought seeing the second Captain America. Taking down all of Shield/Hydra should have been an Avengers movie, not the job of a single dude. Should have been a much more down to earth story about him adjusting to modern day, getting his groove back and taking on some minor baddie.
- thehappypm 4y ago
  Oof. I think that was one of the best Marvel movies. It had a different type of tone — more James Bond-ey and I really liked it

newsclues 4y ago

We live in an era devoid of authenticity or reality.

api 4y ago
I blame comic book movies and a generation raised on them. Comic book movies are also "ur fascism." They feature utterly paper thin heroes who are just good and paper thin villains that are either just bad or have caricatured motives. Thanos with his genocidal malthusianism is about as high-brow as this stuff gets. I don't think it's a coincidence that the generation raised on these has been softened up for puerile political zealotry (of various stripes) in adulthood. Go back and watch an action flick like Die Hard. Such movies were considered lowbrow when they were made but that film contains some extremely complex characterization and nuance compared to 90% of comic book films.
- newsclues 4y ago
  I blame the news, and the propaganda they have been pumping out for decades.
- stoxascer 4y ago
  IMO a bigger aspect is just the exhaustion of the artistic medium itself and exhaustion of creative talent. I think we tend to view the major artistic mediums that we are born into as something eternal when in reality they get stale. Whatever can be said about movies I am sure people were saying 50-100 years ago about paintings. Or think about the last great sculpture? The same thing with movies has happened with music. The LP was nothing until the 1950s but it feels like something eternal. Creative people move on to newer mediums that are a blank canvas so to speak. Youtube, Tiktok, podcasts, long series TV. I think as you age obviously it becomes harder to impress just from having consumed so many masterpieces of artistic expression. You have a much higher tolerance for amazement. I think superhero movies are totally unwatchable but I am sure this would be different if I was starting closer to a blank slate when it comes to movie expectations. I love mob movies but there is no grand comment on society that caused all these mob movies to have been made outside a type of fashion trend.

throw0101a 4y ago

> Down to earth is the key I think. So many action films these days are "save the world" or some sort of incredibly over the top world-changing maguffin. Ran across this observation with regards to Die Hard: the first two movies had McClain as basically a beat cop who gets in over his head. The latter movies he's almost a superhero.

mangamadaiyan 4y ago
I thought the one with Jeremy Irons as Hans Gruber's brother in it (don't remember which part of the series this was) wasn't too bad either. TBH, I'd watch that one more for Irons' performance than anything else, so your point probably still stands.
rayiner 4y ago
That makes me realize another aspect I hate about modern movies. In the first Die Hard, McClain was suffering. That scene where he walks across broken glass, and then limps around the rest of the movie. It might not have been realistic, but at least it conveyed how hard and tiring it is to fight. That is totally absent from modern action movies.