Action Film Genre - Essay Example

Action Film Genre Essentially, the action film is a genre in which the hero or heroes are placed in complicated and difficult situation which they have to surmount through a combination or brain and brawn although mostly the latter. The hero is in most cases a resourceful and either very strong or skilled in fighting or having some sort of super power that makes it explicable that he should be capable of dispatching the villains. Majority of the characters are faced with situations that would conventionally be incredible of even impossible and they often have to contend with diabolical villain with exceptional power and influence. Generally, the film ends with the hero who is the embodiment of goodness and morality triumphing over the villain and more often than not “getting the girl”. The action film genre undoubtedly consists of some of the most popular and universally watched films and most people irrespective of their age have an action film or hero they admire. The older generation is likely to associate and relate to retrospective stars such as John Wayne and Chuck Norris while the youths may find action to be synonymous with contemporary actors such as The Rock and the recently deceased Paul Walker. Given the complex and fantastic plots involved, most action films are high budget and often require a great deal of CGI effects, which are gradually replacing, although not entirely the highly skilled actors and stuntmen from earlier films. The objective of this paper is to discuss the nature of action films today paying particular attention to the convections, iconography and audience expectations, all which play a major role in defining and differentiation of the genre (Grant, 2007). In the west, popularly portrayed as the “wild west” by most artistic work of the time, the 20s and 30s were the foundational years for the action and adventure genre. These films were popularized by actors like Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn but the setting predominantly appeared to be a period ones (Marin, 1993). However, with time modern day action films such as the James Bond franchise gradually popularized acting in the present and in the 60s and 70s, although there were still many popular period films majority of the mainstream action were based on present day. The bond films that were among the most popular were characterized with fast action quick cutting vehicle chases hand-to-hand combat and comparatively complex action scenes and sequences. The James bond franchise set the trend for future action and thriller films and also established the concept of a resourceful and witty hero who not only dispatches the villain with his superior fighting skill and technology but also brainy one liners. Unlike the British who focused on spy stories, early American action was centred on the easy to identify and relate with police officers, the major works during this period were films such as Bullitt, the French connection, and Dirty Harry predominantly based on the lives of maverick cops (Macnab 2009). It was not until the 80s that action became popular in Hollywood, notably many of the actors responsible for popularizing the genre and elevating it to its present level are still in the business. They include Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone better known as Rambo or Rocky, Jean Claude Dan Damme and Chuck Norris just to mention a few (Broeske, 1993). The Die-hard series by Bruce Willis was particularly influential on both the audience who clamoured for more and the industry resulting in many spin-offs based on its thrilling and adrenaline filled, action as well as simple moral themes and feel good plots. The original that involved a terrorist takeover of New York City block has been “re-enacted” in several other films such as Air force one, Keanu Reeve’s Speed and others. Given that action films tend to be relatively expensive they have become predominantly Hollywood genres since this is one of the few places where supersized budgets can be accommodated (Bordwell & Thompson 2010). However, there have been a substantial films shot and directed in Hong Kong most of them based on martial arts; they were highly influential in the global filmmaking and became very popular among audiences worldwide introducing some of Hollywood’s greatest stars (Bordwell, 2000). These include, the legendary Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Donny Yeng to mention a few. The action sequences in the Asian Kung Fu movies have been integrated in many Hollywood action films, (Zhen, 2005) and later actions stars such as Jason Stratham (Transporter) and Angelina Jolie, (Tomb Raiders) have been seen to apply elements of Asian martial arts in their films. Today, most of the action films have shifted toward the development of more elaborate and better choreographed action scenes which is one of the impacts of Hong Kong as well as technology and the traditional western car chases and explosions that are still popular among American films. While action and sci-fi film are in some cases classified separately, on the larger part they complement each other as has been seen in the James Cameroon’s Avatar and more recently the latest installation of Star Trek (Into Darkness). Contemporary action films are very diverse and they range from straight forward action by traditional type action stars such as the expendables to new stars and whose abilities tend to be enhanced by superpower or science such as Chuck or the Batman and the Superman series. Before assuming to discuss the role of iconography, it is important that a definition of the tem be established in the context of the action film genre. According to Bennett, Hickman & Wall (2007) iconography can be defined as a culmination of particular signs that are conventionally associated with specific genres based on the physical characteristic, setting and the weapons or tools they use. In the past, the Iconography was often consistent in most of the films especially concerning the methods and weapons used by the villain and hero. For example, a typical villain (both retrospective and current) will be a monovalent character driven by desire for power and wealth and in most cases; they will be hatching a nefarious plot whose consequences could range from killing a few people to destroying the world. To further their diabolic cause, the villain will often have an array of high-tech and sometimes old school weapons such as death rays, nuclear bombs, missiles guns and others. In addition among the villains tools of trade are mercenaries often at his beck and call and ready to inflict any damage to the villain of other protagonists, notably most of the mercenaries or minions aren’t often very bright although there are exceptions (Knappers , 2013). The dressing is also often symbolic and in many past films case, the villain will dress in black while the heroes will be in a lighter. However, this has changed and in many instances, as the contrary can be said to be true. For instance, in the latest James bond film, Sky fall, Bond is often depicted as being more darkly adorned than the villain who in addition to dressing tastefully and in comparatively light colours than Bond for most of the film is more cheerful albeit in a “villainish” sort of way. In Air force one on the other hand, Gary Oldman and the rest of the characters portraying terrorist were all dressed in black while Harrison Ford and the rest of the antagonist were mostly in dark pants but almost uniformly in bright white shirts. This contrast is often used by directors to increase the authenticity of the film by depicting the villain as “dark” and the hero as “light” by paying into popular social belief in that regard. Nevertheless as aforementioned, modern films and TV show are becoming more complex and the dark and light portrayal is sometimes inverted to depict a mentally troubled protagonist. An interesting aspect of action film that seem to be generally overlooked in most online discussion is the propensity to dress the Villain in dark long leather(optional ) trench coats. In Sky fall, Javier Bardem the villain is portrayed in a black leather trench coat and so is Van Damme in Expandable, in The Avengers; Loki who is also one of the key villains is also dressed in the self-same way. Taking this to consideration, one may assume that film directors have tended to associate evil with villain by “shrouding” them in tough black coats. The gadgets which were initially popularized by Bond films have become a part of most action films especially those modelled after it, for example in mission impossible Tom Cruise could as well be the American bond given his arsenal of smart gadgets and weapons. This is in addition to super-fast cars and although it is notable that there are still characters who opt to drive antique old schools although in many cases they have been spruced up and are just as high performance as the more common Ferraris and Porsches for car chases and stunts. One of the major convection of action movies can be seen in the setting, most of them are set in cities so that the action can be more apparent to the audience; for example in a car chase is more challenging if the vehicles are being driven around a city or town rather than country roads. In addition, the many buildings and construction as well as high population make it possible to create impressions of high speed as vehicles rush past structures and people (Young 2013). The setting also provides ample venue for staging the action making it more exiting such as rooftops power stations underground train stations and such like places; in Die Hard, the action is set in New York so there are many cars to blow up and crash into. In a rural setting, it would be hard for character to convincingly destroy property and cause multiple crashes since there are not expected to be very many people and such action would cause the film to lose spontaneity and appear to be forced. Early action movies especially the Hong Kong variety, which were based on Kung Fu and other martial arts seemed to have one recurring theme, which may have made the popular then but today renders them a cliché. Revenge; many of the films shot in the 90s had to do with the main character trying to get back at some bad people who had possibly killed his family, friend or master. Today this conviction is not as obvious as it was even in mainstream Hollywood but is still a major part of the genre albeit in a more complex and covert fashion. One of the dominant themes in Hollywood film and television is patriotism, which is often tested in the face of eminent terror attacks that the hero has to quell before they occur. In many, although not necessarily the majority post 9/11 action films based on terrorism the antagonist are Asians and mostly Muslim which reflects on the effects of the Osama led attack on the twin towers on western perception of Islam. 24 which is easily one of the top action TV series of all times based on popular acclaim is set along such lines with the main protagonist Jack Bauer being frequently forced to go against his own government an laws so as to protect the country from impending doom of nuclear attacks and assassinations. Action films are meant to entertain and not present a representation or real life experience, had that been the case the world would be near perfect will each encounter between good and evil inevitably being won by good. Traditional and majority of contemporary movies have projected a deep moral undertone with the good guys being cast as often being more attractive intelligent and moral than the bad who are often uncouth an when they are intelligent it is in an evil genius sort of way. Heroes are depicted as kind and brave and they certainly never hit or kill women or children unless the latter are the villain and they absolutely must. However, reality is quite different from what is portrayed on screen, very few people in real life can be as archetypical of evil as the villains in majority of movies and there is a probably smaller number who would have the resources , fortitude and moral uprightness to resemble majority of the heroes and heroines. This trend has however been challenged in some of the recent films and dram such as Breaking Bad which futures a chemistry teacher who despite being the main protagonist in the eyes of the audience is actually the villain in the drama. Surprisingly this has been receive with unprecedented accolades and it is possible that audiences are now ready to watch a “real life” film in which the bad guys can win and the good guys lose at the end of it or where there are only antagonists and victims but no heroes at least not in the traditional sense. Many action heroes are isolated and alienated often under attack from the antagonist and the government as well or rejected by those they are trying to help; an example of this can be drawn from the Jason Bourne series acted by Matt Damon. He is not only chasing villains with an evil agenda for his country he has to escape form the CIA which despite having trained and employed him has branded his a terrorist an wants him dead as well. Jack Bauer (in the Action series 24) frequently finds himself in similar situation and even Bond is forced to go AWOL so that he can carry out his personal vendetta after he is dismissed from the service for disobeying orders in a “License to Kill”. Action movies also tend to have a unique technical code, which is embodied in the various camera angel speeds and sound effects. In some scenes, it is common for helicopters to be used to give the audience a bird eye view of say a car chase. In addition to the camera, the sounds are also amplified especially inaction film where the audience can clearly hear the punches and kicks thump on flesh never mind that in a real life scenario it would be unlikely. Gunshots are also sometime played in slow motion particularly in in sci-fi film like the matrix to show the projectile of the bullet and the evasive response of reaction of the target if any. When audiences sit to watch an action film, they do not expect reality, nevertheless, they expect the content to realistic but in most cases they will know from the onset once they a have identified the villain, the hero and the girl that the hero will ultimate defeat the villain and likely take the girl. Therefore, inasmuch as they expect to be surprised by the twist and turns, they know what the ultimate end will be, or at least have an idea. Despite this audiences expect to be presented with a complex plot and high quality graphics as well as believable characters with whom they can empathize by virtue of their action not just their the role. Given that technological advancements have been inculcate in many aspects of film making, todays audience expect high quality picture and complex but natural action scene and stunts, however they will be up in arms should the CGI effects be too many or obvious. Arguably, audiences are more concerned about the quality and authenticity of dialogue and action than the plot itself this can explain why “White House Down”, whose was plot and story line, was a spin-off of “Olympus Has Fallen” could be released months after the first and do better than the “original” film. If a film is a sequel of a highly successful previous movie, audiences’ expectations will be quite high and the subsequent fill will be harshly judged if it does not live up to the trend set by the first. This may explain why the Matrix sequels did not perform anywhere as well as the original film since they were measured against it and found wanting. The main characters are also crucial in shaping audience expectation, in which case, the bigger the star the more the audience expect from them. However, this can sometimes work to the films advantage since it the main characters have a good reputation or are very popular the audience may be more inclined to look for what is good in the film and bypass the negatives since they believe the actor is good and by association so must be the film. References /Bibliography Bennett, P., Hickman, A. & Wall, P. 2007. Film Studies:  The Essential Resource,  London: Routledge. Bordwell, D. & Thompson, K. 2010. Film Art:  An Introduction, New York: McGraw-Hill. Bordwell, D. 2000. Planet Hong Kong:  Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment, Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Broeske, P, H. 1993. "FILM; Wanted: New Action Stars". The New York Times, [online]. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/10/movies/film-wanted-new-action-stars.html Knappers, C. 2013. Action Genre Conventions. AS Media [online]. Available at: http://prezi.com/owwdkbj_ntgu/action-genre-conventions/?utm_source=prezi-view&utm_medium=ending-bar&utm_content=Title-link&utm_campaign=ending-bar-tryout Macnab, G. Spy Movies; The guys who came in from the cold. The Independent., [online] Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/spy-movies--the-guys-who-came-in-from-the-cold-1796078.html Grant, B. K. 2007. Film Genre: From Iconography to Ideology, London:Wallflower Press. Marin, R. 1993 "FILM; Battle of the Action Heroes". New York Times [online]. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/09/movies/film-battle-of-the-action-heroes.html Young, K. 2013. Action Movie Conventions; Analysis of the typical conventions of an action movie. Prezi. Inc. [online]. Available at:. http://prezi.com/g9yoc3du1ghq/action-movie-conventions/ Zhen, Z. 2005. Bodies in the Air:  The Magic of Science and the Fate of the Early “Martial Arts” Films in China. In: LIU, S. H. & YEH, E. Y.-Y. (eds.) Chinese Language FIlm:  Historiography, Poetics, Politics. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. Read More

 

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