I think that action stars like him are trying to do what Arnold did in the 80s and 90s with all of these recent action movies.
I think Arnold made like 10M for each of those movies. I'm sure Jason would have done them.
He is a more accomplished actor than Arnold was in his prime. His collaborations with Guy Ritchie are a testament to that.
Arnold's career is wacky, he did three James Cameron films, as well as a Verhoeven film and a McTiernan film.
Those were better days with better directors. Almost no one today capable of making even one film like those guys, and all three have multiple bangers under their belts.
Agreed, but i thought he was fucking hilarious in spy; would love to see more of that.
Haha that reminds me when my brother and I went to watch every Van Damme movie, no matter what. We often sat alone in the smallest cinema and made fun of what's happening on screen. Good memories.
For the good stuff check out Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. A more comedic psycho would be his role in Mean Machine. For outright parody comedy he was in Spy with Melissa McCarthy.
Hummingbird and Revolver are a bit different as well, along with Blitz.
Try edging
I'd argue that is a legit sub-category of action films. I does get a bit boring when it's the same actor doing it, over and over, but that's just the niche they occupy. I don't recall Bruce Lee getting beaten up much. Arnie either. Then guys like JCVD, Jackie Chan, or Bruce Willis make the hero's suffering part of the journey.
Never liked Bruce Lee either, mostly for the same reason. But pretty sure Arnie got his fare share of beating in some of his movies. He got his ass kicked in both Terminator 2 and The Predator, for instance. Those are his best movies, funnily enough. Are they not?
Fair enough, it's a legit preference.
I know about those but they aren't in the same realm as the Arnold movies I've listed.
In safe he does become homeless and sleeps in a homeless SHELTER for the night lol
Oh man, market it like a Hallmark film about a lonely widow that takes in a homeless guy for Christmas, cleans him up, dresses him, shares xmas dinner with her multicultural array of kids by different daddies, ALL OF WHOM TURN OUT TO BE FROM VARIOUS CRIMINAL GANGS AND THEY ALL DECIDE TO RAID THE HOUSE TO GET THEIR KIDS BACK AND THE STATHAM HAS TO DEFEND THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!
I'm no Tier One Operator, but I did sleep in a Holiday Inn last night so even I know that these guys gotta spend HOURS every DAY shooting, training, and sparring to keep all those skills up, yet hollywood thinks you can just chop wood or fish all day and still bullseye a womp rat at 90 paces
It is a staple of several Westerns and Samurai cinema.I'm no Tier One Operator, but I did sleep in a Holiday Inn last night so even I know that these guys gotta spend HOURS every DAY shooting, training, and sparring to keep all those skills up, yet hollywood thinks you can just chop wood or fish all day and still bullseye a womp rat at 90 paces
I blame Commando for this entire trend, was that the first one?
Ah, good point. Though maybe there is a difference between the "retired gunslinger forced to do one last job" (which I guess is the Commando model) and the "hiding out/retired gunslinger with a bounty on his head being chased" that the Statham films are using. I can think of a fair number of the former, but few of the latter. I'm sure they are out there though.
At least he is a good actor when scenes allow for it. I love when he plays a conman or thief in a crime drama.
I was actually pleasantly surprised at how Equalizer 3 had an old-school slow buildup to it's climax. Both the direction and pacing were very different from the first two movies.
Terrible. I don't know if he's trying and failing, has been told to do something that is slightly more understandable for American audiences, or some third rubbish reason. Honestly I don't always understand what he's saying when he does the gibberish accent.
I'm not sure he even knows what accent he is trying, other than to deepen his voice and sound gruff. A lot of the brits and aussies have a much higher pitched "natural" voice than how they act, particularly if going for some sort of americany accent.
